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Copyright N° 

COPyRIGHT DEPosrr. 



AN 
ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 



SUGGESTIONS FOE THE INTERPRETATIOK 
OF HUMAN LIFE 



BY 



D. E. PHILLIPS, Ph.D. 

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION 
THE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER 



GINN AND COMPANY 

BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON 



COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY D. E. PHILLIPS 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

513.5 

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GINN AND COMPANY • PRO- 
PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A. 



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PREFACE 

In presenting this volume to the public I am simply 
seeking to arouse a deeper interest in a general science of 
far-reaching and practical importance to every individual. 
During twenty years of experience in starting young stu- 
dents in this science, I have noted the different topics, the 
chief lines of interest, the oft-repeated questions, the out- 
side material needed to render any Satisfaction to the in- 
quiring mind. I am convinced that the problems of deepest 
interest and some of the most valuable material are not 
presented in the subject matter of the general textbook on 
psychology. To create a wide and permanent interest in 
any science is certainly as necessary as to add facts to that 
science. This volume lays no claim to any great addition 
to human knowledge. Experience has proved that the 
fundamental and practical facts of psychology can be 
made intensely interesting and educative to high-school 
students and to the general public. There is nothing in 
this volume that cannot be comprehended by the begin- 
ning student to the extent of luring him on and filhng 
him with enthusiasm to know and with a desire to solve 
the problems of life and conduct. Experience has also 
proved that it is wise and pedagogically valuable to 
stimulate interest by giving a wide view of the science, 
even to the extent of suggesting hidden mysteries and 
unanswerable questions. It is the stimulus that sets 
the soul on fire. 

iii 



iv ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

The entire new arrangement of subject matter may be 
justified by the ease and interest of presentation as com- 
pared with that order in which the physiological and ab- 
stract parts of psychology are first presented. I can only 
hope that the style, arrangement, and method of treatment 
will prove as stimulating and interesting to the general 
reader as they have proved to my own classes. I also 
believe that some such order will prove to be in every 
way pedagogical and profitable. The logical order and the 
pedagogical order are not always the same, as experience 
has amply shown; therefore, while logical unity has not 
been ignored, it has been consciously sacrificed to other quali- 
ties which are more essential to the purpose of this book. 

For the introduction of such material as Relation of 
Psychology and Involutions Heredity and Environment, 
Suggestion and Mental Healing, Magic and Spiritualism, 
Psychology in Literature, I offer no apology. The general 
necessity for some information on these topics, the broad 
view developed, the permanent interest created, and the bet- 
ter understanding which they give of such common subjects 
as memory, reason, will, and the entire relation and develop- 
ment of mental life are ample justification for their intro- 
duction. The study of psychology requires some knowledge 
of the leading facts of evolution. To assume such knowledge 
on the part of the beginning student is a mistake. 

Striving for accurate definitions and distinctioiis is to 
be avoided in the beginning of such a gre X and necessa- 
rily indefinite subject as this. It is dangerous and leads 
to the greatest disease in all education — word-learning 
without a ghost of a content. An attitude of soul aris- 
ing from many examples and questions is deemed of more 



PREFACE V 

importance for general purposes than accurate scientific defi- 
nitions. The definitions given are tentative and suggestive. 

The omission of the conventional questions and refer- 
ences at the end of each chapter is desirable for three 
reasons : First, experience and inquiry prove that they 
are seldom used. Second, the questions are in nowise 
likely to be such as the student would ask. A better 
method is to allow perfect freedom of questions and discus- 
sion on each topic. It will be found that the suggestions 
concerning larger problems are such as to call forth many 
natural questions which the students may be requested to 
investigate. A list of references is given at the close of the 
book. Third, such questions have undoubtedly a detrimental 
effect on the teacher. The extreme form of such ready-made 
questions was once found in our histories and geographies. 
When our pedagogy is properly developed, the general read- 
ing book will take the place of the formal textbook. Each 
year's reforms make this more and more apparent. 

That I owe much to various authors and publishers for the 
permission to use certain cuts, I trust is made clear in the 
text. All references to authors and authority for quotations 
will be found at the close of the book in an alphabetic list. 

Besides my indebtedness to friends for examination and 
correction of manuscript, I am under special obligations 
to my colleague Dr. S. A. Lough for valuable help and 
careful examination of proof ; to my assistant. Miss Kate 
Rowland, for critical suggestions and final preparation of 
manuscript; and to Miss Helen Howland for valuable 
drawings and indexing. 

D. E. P. 

The University of Denver 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 1 

The Will or Desire to Live 3 

Instinct as a Fountain of Conduct 7 

The Migratory Instinct, 8. Striking Instinctive Activities, 10. 
The Social Instinct, 10. Instinct of Reproduction, 12. In- 
stinct and Intelligence, 13. Human Instincts, 14. Definition 
of Instinct, 20. 

Imitation as a Fountain of Human Conduct 23 



CHAPTER II 

FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT (Continued) .... 31 
Habit 31 

Reflex Action, 31. Wide View of Habit, 35. Habit in the 
Nervous System, 37. Power of Habit and Education, 38. 
The Habit of breaking Habits, 41. 

CHAPTER III 

FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT (Continued) .... 46 
Feelings and their Development 46 

Importance of the Feelings, 48. Classification of Feelings and 
Emotions, 51. Chief Characteristics of Feeling, 53. Feel- 
ing and Literature, 64. The Sentiments, 66. Education of 
the Emotions, 69. 

vii 



viii ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

CHAPTER IV 

PAGE 

FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT (Continued) .... 78 

Apperception 78 

Examples of Apperception, 79. Suggested Apperception, 82. 
Definition of Apperception, 88. Factors determining the 
Strength and Direction of the Apperceptive Power, 88. Is 
Apperception a Good or a Bad Thing ? 92. 

CHAPTER Y 

RELATION OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EVOLUTION . ... 94 

General Statement, 94. Natural Selection or the Struggle 
for Existence, 98. Survival of the Present and Survival 
of the Past, 99. Individual and Collective Survival, 100. 
Sexual Selection, 102. Sources of Advantages and Varia- 
tions necessary for Advancement and Survival, 103. Evo- 
lution of Language, 106. Time and Change, 110. Evolution 
of Mind, 111. 

CHAPTER VI 

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, ITS FUNCTION, AND EDUCA- 
TION 114 

Divisions of the Nervous System, 115. Importance of the 
Cerebrum, 116. Composition of the Nervous System, 117. 
Growth of the Nervous System, 121. Functions of the Dif- 
ferent Parts of the Nervous System, 124. Education of the 
Nervous System, 128. How Knowledge of the Nervous Sys- 
tem helps us to interpret Human Life, 131. 

CHAPTER VII 

SENSATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SENSES 134 

The Stimulus and Nerve Action, 134. Sensation and Per- 
ception, 135. The Special Senses and their Adaptation to 
Stimuli, 136. Sensations arising from the Skin, 139. Sensa- 
tions of Taste and Smell, 144. Sensations of Smell, 144. 



CONTENTS ix 

PAGE 

Sensations of Hearing, 146. Sensations of Sight, 148. Re- 
action Time, 153. Subjective Sensations, 155. Quality and 
Intensity of Sensations and of Sense Perceptions, 155. Prac- 
tical Significance of these Facts, 159. 

CHAPTEK YIII 

RELATION AND ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS 163 

The Rapidity of Thought, 165. The Fundamental Law of 
Association of Ideas, 167. Laws of Practical Educational 
Value, 168. Association in Dreams, 176. Practical Results 
of the Association Method, 178. 

CHAPTER IX 

FUNCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY AND 
IMAGINATION 180 

Memory and Imagination in Animals, 180. Varieties of 
Memory, 182. The Physical Basis of Memory, 186. Relation 
of Imagination and Memory, 188. Strange Visual Images, 
189. Values and Dangers of Imagination, 192. The Educa- 
tion of Memory and Imagination, 194. Suggestions for saving 
Time and Energy, 196. Memory and Court Testimony, 197. 

CHAPTER X 

PROBLEMS OF HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT ... 199 

Meaning of Heredity, 201. Whence come these Heredi- 
tary Qualities with which every Child begins Life ? 205. 
We inherit Things only potentially, 208. A Chart to suggest 
Ideas of Individual Variations, 209. Relation of Environ- 
ment to Heredity, 211. Education must build on what Nature 
furnishes, 212. 

CHAPTER XI 

THE THINKING PROCESS AND ITS. DEVELOPMENT. . 214 

Degree of Thinking, 214. Thought and Progress, 217. Causes 
of Inaccurate Reasoning, 218. Proper Positive Education of 



X ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

PAGE 

the Thinking Process is the Supreme Demand in all Educa- 
tion, 222. The Formation and Development of Concepts, 223. 
Genius, the Star of Hope, 225. Language and Thought- 
Discipline, 227. 

CHAPTER Xn 

SUGGESTION AND MENTAL HEALING 232 

Degrees of Suggestibility, 233. History of Hypnotic Phe- 
nomena, 236. How Increased Suggestibility, called Hypnosis, 
is produced, 238. Phenomena of Hypnotic Suggestion, 239. 
Popular Errors concerning Hypnotic Suggestion, 240. Our 
Mental Life outside the Stream of Consciousness, 243. Hid- 
den Powers of Men, 247. Mental Healing, 249. Normal and 
Abnormal Psychology, 253. 

CHAPTER XIII 

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 257 

Importance of Social Psychology, 257. What is meant by 
Social-Mind, 258. The Suggestibility and Credulity of 
Crowds, 260. The Successful Leader of Crowds, 262. The 
School as the Only Hope for Political Education, 262. A 
Few General Conclusions, 264. 

CHAPTER XIY 

WILL, FREEDOM, AND EDUCATION 267 

Biological and Evolutionary Investigations, 268. Kinds and 
Sources of Human Action, 268. Volition appears to direct 
Thoughts and Feelings as well as to inaugurate Action, 273. 
Deliberation is the Conflict of Ideas and Feelings behind 
which lie the Instincts, Habits, and Past Experiences of the 
Individual, 275. Education and Freedom, 276. Common 
Evasions of the Problem, 278. Feeling of Freedom, 279. 
Ways of conceiving Freedom, 282. The Moral Aspect, 284. 

CHAPTER XY 
MAGIC AND SPIRITUAUSM 287 

Historic Development, 287. Necessity for Knowledge on these 
Topics, 288. Interrelation of Magic and Spiritualism, 289. 



CONTENTS xi 

PAGE 

High Points in the History of Magic, 291. A Few Explana- 
tions of Magic, 293. Spiritualism, 296. 

CHAPTER XYI 
PSYCHOLOGY IN LITERATURE, MUSIC, AND ART . . 303 

Inadequacy of the Present System, 304. Laws of Grammar, 
Literature, and Art, 305. Simple Psychic Elements in 
Literature, 307. The First Necessity for either the Produc- 
tion or the Appreciation of Literature and Art is Soul-Free- 
dom, 311. Symbolic andFigurative, or Psychological, Nature of 
Characters in Literature, 313. Reading into Literature what 
is not there, 317. The Psychic Atmosphere about Literature 
and Art, 319. By what Standard shall we judge Literature 
and Art ? 320. Music and Art, 322. 

CHAPTER XYII 

REFLECTIONS ON THIS HUMAN CONFLICT 325 

Summary of Previous Pages, 325. Pursuit of Happiness is 
everywhere the End of Action so far as it is directed by 
Consciousness of the Individual, 327. Human Life is in- 
consistent and contradictory, 330. Needed Reforms in our 
Moral Education, 333. 

INDEX OF AUTHORS 343 

INDEX 345 



AN ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THE INTERPRETATION 
OF HUMAN LIFE 

CHAPTEE I 
FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 

I. The Will to Live. IL Instinct. 
III. Imitation 

The average man, as he journeys on the bosom of a 
mighty river winding through mountains and valleys, 
comprehends not and thinks little of the many thousands 
of fountains, subterranean and otherwise, that combine to 
produce this sublime piece of nature. So human life is a 
majestic river that ever bears us on to the hidden sea of 
eternity. Few are the souls that stop to discover the 
fountains from which it is fed, and the combinations of 
forces that are manifest before our eyes every day. Indeed 
many, either through sheer aversion to all effort to solve 
the problems of life or on account of some dogma star- 
ing them in the face, say we should not attempt to dis- 
cover these fountains. They say it is not only useless 
but impossible. In this chapter our aims are simple and 
unpretentious. With morbid daily introspection and self- 
cross-examination we have no sympathy, and with the 



2 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

origin and deepest nature of life we are not concerned. The 
ultimate nature of motion which produces the phenomena 
of thunder and lightning no man knows. Yet our investi- 
gations in this line have not exactly been a failure. Is there 
any good reason why we should not have driven supersti- 
tion and night from the clouds, revealed the nature of 
thunder and lightning, and harnessed electricity to do our 
work, even if we cannot know the nature of the Eternal 
Energy lying behind such phenomena ? Why should a 
physician inquire into the ancestry of the mentally unbal- 
anced ? Every act of life has its ancestors, and only by 
some knowledge of these past forces which compel pres- 
ent action shall we ever properly comprehend and treat 
crime aright, shall we ever abstain from harsh and unjust 
judgments, shall we ever, even partially, obey the injunc- 
tion " judge not," or exercise '' charity toward all men." 

In order to secure an adequate comprehension of the 
so-called higher powers of man and all their various com- 
binations, it is necessary to give passing attention to at 
least six of these hidden Fountains of Conduct. These are 
(1) The Will or Desire to Live ; (2) Instinct ; (3) Imita- 
tion ; (4) Habit ; (5) Feelings ; (6) Apperception. Some 
of these will be taken up again for further consideration, 
but we must first have sufficient comprehension of these 
six forces to be able to discover their manifestations and 
power in general psychological phenomena. Without some 
knowledge of the force and extent of these streams always 
pouring into our daily conduct, how shall we fathom even 
the simplest affairs of human life ? 

This division is only a method of presenting as forcibly 
as possible a few ideas. There is no intention of suggesting 



EOUNTAmS OF HUMAI^ C0:N^DUCT 3 

that six is the limit. The number and combinations are 
certainly beyond our power to catalogue as yet. Nor is 
there anything involved in this conception akin to the old 
faculty psychology, which distinctly separated the powers 
of the soul. Throughout this workj^oulis used as synony- 
mous with the sum- total of aW psychic experienced^ activi- 
ties, feelings, and possibilities of man. Let us look at a 
few facts which any observer of life can comprehend. 

I. The Will oe Desire to Live 

Look about you ! On every hand observe the whole 
wide world teeming with the various forms of life. See 
the millions of insects and other animals, high and low, 
big and little, as soon as born, ever thirsting for growth, 
for development, for more life ; ever struggling for food, 
to escape death, and to propagate their kind as if the whole 
world depended upon it. See the wonderful adjustments 
the ages have produced to meet conditions, lest life in any 
line should come to an end. See how human beings cling to 
life under any conditions and at any cost. What is the 
one common element that lies in plain view as the prompter 
of all these activities, manifesting itself in a million forms 
and at every moment ? Ask a class of thirty or forty 
healthy men and women why they live. At first they are 
almost sure to give the proper answer — laugh as if it 
needed no answer. But soon that false psychology which 
hopes to explain life and conduct from the so-called rational 
element in man, as if distinct from everything else, 
produces an array of apparent reasons why we live and 
should live. These old psychologists would almost make us 



4 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

believe that we reason ourselves into and out of existence. 
Animals, they say, may live by force of impulse or instinct ; 
man lives by reason. How necessary that we first learn 
something of the fountains of life that constantly prompt 
our reason, memory, imagination, etc., before we begin to 
talk blindly about these powers of man. The correct answer 
was in the laugh, and our speculations about why we live 
are quite superficial. We live because we cannot help it; 
because that insatiable thirst for life, more life, which fills 
the earth with countless millions of organisms, pushes 
us on. Was it any speculations about life that kept the 
countless millions of savages and animals struggling ? Or 
did the force that for ages kept and still keeps the rest of 
creation going, step aside for us when some convention of 
men met and told us why we sJiould live, and made us 
afraid of death ? By no means. At best man's specula- 
tions have produced only minor modifications. The first 
great fountain of human conduct is this same universal, 
ever-present desire to live. With our present advance of 
knowledge it seems incredible that any one's powers of 
observation should be so blunted by theory as not to see 
this great biological law. Give your attention to these 
astounding facts. 

The Will to Live, as the background of life already 
briefly suggested, is so closely related to the instincts 
that it might, from one standpoint, be called the funda- 
mental instinct. At least it stands in such relation to all 
others that no instincts and no fundamentals in evolution, 
such as the Struggle for Existence, could be conceived 
without it. One is never more amazed than when he 
beholds some of the hard conditions under which life, 



FOUKTAms OF huma:n^ conduct 5 

animal and vegetable, is maintained, and the tools with 
which organisms are provided to meet these conditions. 
The different forms of organic life not only possess as- 
tounding equipments and manifest marvelous activities for 
warding off danger and preserving life against the many- 
destructive elements, but they also show the most marvel- 
ous and constant manifestation of an inner, active tendency 
to further life and bring it to the highest degree possible. 
Perhaps you already know something of the smallest 
unit of life — the cell. Its complexity, the activities that 
go on within it, and its division into two cells in order to 
further its own growth — these are in reality among the 
wonders of life ; yet they are all prompted by this im- 
pulse common to all living things. Again, germ cells are 
often capable of considerable movement in order to unite 
for furthering life; some organisms that live in water 
move only by changing their weight by mixing two liquids 
or gases, or by squeezing out air. Scarcity of food, lack 
of proper moisture, unfavorable temperature, are overcome 
in thousands of organisms by bringing the life processes 
practically to a standstill until the conditions are again 
favorable. In many cases the impulse to live is so strong 
that almost any part of the organism develops into a 
complete individual. The Nais cut into many pieces de- 
velops as many individuals ; in the case of the Litmhricits, 
each stump generates a head and lives as an individual; 
mere fragments of the sea urchin's egg grow into complete 
eggs ; each piece of the hydra becomes a new organism. 
The will to live is behind all this activity. Everything 
strives toward existence, toward life, then toward the 
highest forms of life. 



6 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

These few facts of the lower biological world are only 
mentioned to give some notion of the extent and intensity 
of this universal impulse. Countless thousands might be 
added, but for psychological material the common observa- 
tions of life are ample. I am sometimes astounded by the 
well-known fact that sweet peas struggle on for months 
to produce flowers and seeds if the flowers be continually 
cut ; otherwise they cease to bloom. It is also true that 
fowls will lay many more eggs before setting if the eggs 
are removed from the nest. This same desire for life is 
only keener and more intensified in human nature. This 
desire to live feeds on the life of other organisms and 
even on human beings, that it may maintain itself. From 
one standpoint it converts the world into an immense 
slaughterhouse. In these and numerous other facts any 
observer may discover the force of the will to live, either 
for the individual or for the species. 

On the other hand, we see how the will to live struggles 
in behalf of the species. The true meaning of everything 
seems to lie in the care for and perpetuation of the species. 
The supreme efforts and energy of all living things, man 
included, are directed by the desire to live and to care 
for the young. We often see a mother clinging against all 
hope to physically and intellectually defective children, or 
sacrificing her life in order to preserve that of her children. 
All this takes place not because we have reasoned out the 
value of life, but because of the inner nature of life itself 
— the universal desire for life. 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 7 

II. Instinct as a Fountain of Conduct 

Give me your explanation of instinct and I will tell you 
your philosophy of the universe. However, in this presen- 
tation we shall not deal with any explanation, but only 
with practical applications of instinct as one of the foun- 
tains of human conduct. Broad reading and many examples 
with an imaginary application to conditions develop an 
attitude of mind not easily expressed in concise definitions, 
but far superior to the ordinary brain-racking, hairsplitting 
definition process. 

If I were to give you a great number of pieces of paper 
varying from intense blackness to snow-whiteness and ask 
you to classify them into black and white, you would be 
able to select readily those at the extreme ends of the 
series. Yet if you should be required to begin at either 
end and pass through the series, you would find many 
doubtful cases, and be unable to decide anything without 
contrasting with the extreme ends. 

It may be possible for some trained eyes to detect three 
thousand shades of color, but we have comparatively few 
names to designate these shght variations. From the lowest 
plant life, consisting of a single microscopic cell and of 
activities discernible only under the microscope, up to that 
fullness of life manifested in the highest specimens of man, 
we have as yet been able to name only a few rounds on 
the ladder. A striking illustration is found in the growth 
of any individual. Infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and 
old age have definite meanings for us when taken in their 
large aspects. But just when did we pass from infancy to 
childhood, from childhood to youth ? This same difficulty 



8 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

will be found in dealing with all the psychic activities 
of man. The intellect forms its clearest ideas of things 
by considering them as discontinuous ; but that is due to 
our habits of conceiving things, and not necessarily to the 
things themselves. This idea is fundamental for any profit- 
able study of psychology. 

In the study of animal activities we may begin with 
the simplest reflex actions, such as are found in proto- 
plasm, pass to the more and more complex reflex processes, 
from these arbitrarily into simple instinctive actions, thence 
to the highly complex and astonishing instincts. Now by 
another arbitrary process we leap across the border line 
between instinct and reason, or accept a mixture of the 
two, and finally arrive at the most colossal monuments of 
human reason. In this wonderful gradation of mind activ- 
ities there are many points where the classification must 
depend almost wholly on some arbitrary definition. As 
gradual and as imperceptible as a delicate change of colors 
on an evening sky are these changes, when all of the phe- 
nomena are arranged in proper order. Abandon any idea 
of a definition until we examine many of the activities 
usually included under instinct. 

The Migratory Instinct has been extensively studied. 

Many birds like the swallow, the cuckoo, the nightingale, 
the redwing, the fieldfare, the sanderling, the turnstone, 
the plover, the knot, the duck, the goose, and others mi- 
grate north or south according to season. The distance 
traveled sometimes exceeds seven thousand miles. The 
sanderling nests in Iceland, and in winter. has been found 
as far south as Cape Colony. The turnstone nests in 



EOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 9 

Greenland or on the coast of Scandinavia, and winters in 
Australia, South America, etc. The American golden 
plover breeds in arctic regions from Alaska to Green- 
land, but in autumn passes through Nova Scotia, and 
striking boldly out to sea, sails on over the ocean until it 
reaches the West Indies. Although the routes traveled 
are not always the same, yet there can be no doubt that 
birds return to the very spot from whence they started 
six months before. They have often been known to fly at 
a height estimated from one to three miles. But the in- 
stinct is not confined to birds. President Jordan gives the 
remarkable case of the fur seal, which twice a year makes 
a journey of nearly three thousand miles, through a track- 
less, stormy, foggy sea, from the Pribilof Islands to the 
Santa Barbara Islands. The seals arrive at their destina- 
tion seldom too early or too late, and land at the same 
place each year. The mother seal often leaves her young 
near the shore and goes two hundred miles in search of 
food, and returning in a week or two, finds them. She 
knows her young amidst ten thousand other young and 
they know her. The homing instinct of the cat is so well 
known as to have been famed in song. Some reptiles are 
said to possess it in a high degree. Eomanes gives a case 
of a pet snake stolen from Dr. Vigot during the French 
invasion of Madras and carried in a carriage over one 
hundred miles. After some time the snake found its way 
home. It has now been proved that the homing ability of 
the bee is independent of sight and sound. We are told 
that the wandering savage, traveling in the trackless forest, 
possesses this instinctive sense of direction to a certain 
degree. The migratory impulse is seen in the roving youth. 



10 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Striking Instinctive Activities. The horsefly lays its 
eggs on the shoulders or legs of the horse ; they are then 
bitten off by the horse and the larva matures in the 
digestive tract. Some species of wasps sting their prey so 
as to paralyze it without killing it, but different species 
vary their stinging according to the insects on which they 
prey. Some prey upon spiders, beetles, and caterpillars, 
which they reduce to a motionless condition for a certain 
number of days, thus furnishing the newly hatched young 
with fresh meat. The yellow- winged sphex has three pairs 
of nerves that govern its legs. These are each stung by 
the wasp in proper order. Another species stings its prey 
nine successive times in nine nerve centers. 

How wonderful is that apparently wise little beetle, the 
sitaris ! It lays its eggs at the mouth of an underground 
passage of a species of bee. After hatching, the larva waits 
until it can fasten itself upon the back of the male bee as 
he goes out, and clings there until the '' w^edding flight," 
when it passes from the male to the female. Here it stays 
until the eggs are laid, and finally it attaches itself to the 
egg, devours it in a few days, and rests in the shell for 
protection while it undergoes further transformation. 

The Social Instinct. Among animals that display a re- 
markable mixture of instinct and intelligence are the 
beavers. They live in towns, but each male lives wdth his 
female in his own house. At three years of age the young 
seek their mates and establish homes for themselves. 
Their homes are constructed with great mechanical and 
artistic skill. Some years ago I traveled several miles up 
a Eocky Mountain stream in order to reach one of these 



Tou:N^TAms OF huma:n' conduct 11 

beaver towns. The animals displayed sense and forethought 
in selecting a site, both as to food and natural defense. 
High up against the mountain side I sawed off the re- 
maining stumps of trees cut down by the beavers. From 
their homes I brought many varying lengths of wood, the 
lengths having a marked relation to the thickness of the 
timber. They often fell a tree so as to submerge the limbs 
and branches in the water, thus preserving it for winter 
food. Their dams and canals for floating down their wood 
are nothing short of psychological puzzles for the student 
of comparative psychology. Agassiz estimated one beaver 
dam to have been about one thousand years old. They 
often build a second dam below the main one, apparently 
as a precaution. 

The marvelous instinct of bees and ants is well known. 
Some species of ants keep slaves that do all the work and 
even feed their masters. When they migrate the slaves 
take the lead. The slave-making ants know one thing 
well — how to make war in an effective, systematic way. 
The whole nest marches out as one army against the ants 
they would enslave. Even the mildest things that are re- 
lated about these campaigns, such as the care of the dead, 
etc., are sufficient to excite intense interest and disturb 
many cherished theories. Various species of ants keep 
aphides, which supply them with a nutritive secretion. 
Some of the leaf-cutting ants of the Amazon Eiver district 
make use of certain leaf bugs as slaves and compel them 
to carry the leaves they cut to their nest. Then the bugs 
are shut up in the colony. The practical application and 
relation of these activities to human conduct and intelli- 
gence will appear in later chapters. 



12 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Instinct of Reproduction. It is not our purpose to give 
a catalogued list of animal instincts, but rather to form a 
background sufficient to show how instinct becomes one 
of the fountains of human life, and influences human 
conduct and reason. To this end, consider the wonderful 
operation of instinct in connection with mating, reproduc- 
tion, and the rearing of the young. Later we shall con- 
sider the complicated and far-reaching import of sexual 
selection. During the mating season many animals, es- 
pecially the males, take on beautiful and brilliant colors 
and select a mate, usually for the season, but often for 
life, as in the case of the beaver, the ostrich, the stork. 
The pairing is often preceded by strange preliminaries 
designated by naturalists as courtship. In an article on 
" The Lines and Laws of North American Birds," the pair- 
ing of several species is shown to be at least coincident 
with a maximum of '' music and dancing." Evans says 
the final purpose of the nutritive impulse, and all second- 
ary impulses, is the preservation of the species. '' Seeking 
food, fighting foes, forming friendships, sexual attraction, 
care of offspring, social feelings, love, hatred, fear, jeal- 
ousy, cruelty, kindness, revenge, deceit — all tend to this 
great end." 

Some of the species of the cuckoo seem to have a per- 
verted instinct. They do not build a nest, but lay their 
eggs in other birds' nests. The eggs are now left to be 
hatched by the foster mother. But should there also be 
hatched any of the rightful heirs to the nest, the young 
cuckoo gets rid of them in a very curious way — by crowd- 
ing them out of the nest to die. There are also several 
other birds that possess tliis parasitic instinct. 



rOUXTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 13 

Instinct and Intelligence. So astounding are the activi- 
ties connected with the rearing of the young in the animal 
kingdom that it seems utterly impossible to explain all 
without introducing an element of intelligence. I shall 
now call attention to a few of these and to some other 
activities that demand the thoughtful consideration of 
every student of psychology. Wild ducks, larks, whip- 
poorwills, and many other birds, being surprised near 
their young, will cry aloud, feign lameness, and flutter 
along in front of you, solely to attract attention from their 
young. In a similar manner the doe and hind attract the 
hunter or dog m the opposite direction. When pursued by 
the hunter the sea otter dives with her young, and com- 
ing to the surface for air, she hides them and receives the 
hunter's shot. The immense seals that live near New 
Zealand swim in herds and observe certain tactics because 
of the terrible enemies of the deep. The females bring 
forth their offspring on shore. While they are suckling 
them, which lasts some seven or eight weeks, the males 
form a circle around the young and their mothers, lest the 
mothers, driven by hunger, should enter the sea. They 
bite the females should they attempt to enter the water. 
Thus all fast for weeks lest the offspring should enter the 
sea before they are able to swim and observe the neces- 
sary precautions. Many animals such as the crow, raven, 
stork, turkey, beaver, wild dog, deer, monkey, zebra, and 
wild horse, post sentinels who warn the rest of approach- 
ing danger. Before migrating, some animals send scouts to 
ascertain conditions as to danger and food supply. The 
zebra and ostrich are often companions, not through friend- 
ship but because the zebra profits by the ability of the 



14 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

ostrich to scent approaching danger. Jabson, in speaking 
of the emotional element in monkeys, says that when 
one of his party would shoot an orang-utan from the boat, 
the body was carried off by the others before his men could 
reach the shore. Forbes tells how thirty-four monkeys 
attacked a cabin, apparently begging for the dead body of 
one of their tribe, and would not be pacified until it was 
delivered ; and the men who witnessed it resolved never 
again to fire at a monkey. Without doubt many of the 
higher animals exhibit sympathy, fidelity, vengeance, pride, 
jealousy, curiosity, teasing, a sense of joy, imitation, some- 
times almost to the extent of being dramatic. 

Human Instincts. Having briefly presented some notion 
of instinct in animal life, let us see what connection it has 
with the psychology of man. Shall we agree with the 
older psychologists and theologians that animals are gov- 
erned by instinct, man by intelligence ? Or will not even 
a careless observation of human life confirm James's state- 
ment that man has all the instincts of all the animals plus 
a great many more ; he has so many they block each 
other's way ? Every biological investigation of life re- 
veals the great power of instinct in human conduct both 
individual and social. Whenever we seek for the primary 
forces behind memory, imagination, attention, interest, the 
rise and decline of an emotion, will power, social activity 
of any kind, we are always sure to discover one or more 
instincts as one of the fundamental factors. Watch the 
power and manifestation of the child-imagination in con- 
nection with the play instinct, and the flights of the poet- 
imagination under tlie sway of the love impulse. Let the 



rouNTAms OF human co:n^duct 15 

reader honestly describe the nature of the thing he most 
readily remembers and then answer why. See how interest 
always has as a bed rock some instinct either relating to 
the individual's present or remote welfare. Strong emo- 
tions of fear are produced by slight stimuli. A lost pig 
running by my house may call forth a sense of humor, 
but a lost child fills me with indescribable pity and pro- 
duces will power to act in its behalf. The latter appeals 
to a deep instinct which has developed a strong parental 
feeling and sympathy. Even in the intellectual giants of 
the world you find the power of the instinctive thirst for 
leadership, fame, or curiosity ever spurring them on ; and 
often, like Goethe, they must proclaim, '' I write because 
I cannot help it." The instinct for social preferment, to 
have, to hoard, and to possess, the love impulse, the sexual 
instinct, the instinct of self-gratification and of self-preser- 
vation, the play instinct, and others, are wrought so deep in 
human society that even the powerful instinct to conceal 
them is not sufficient to hide them from view. Birds build 
nests and sing songs to their young, we build houses and 
schools; animals lie in wait for their prey, we form 
intrigues. 

1. Sexual instinct. As already stated, some authorities 
would reduce all instincts to two or three general ones 
with their mixed and modified forms. Drummond thinks 
everything may be reduced to the instincts of nutrition or 
self-preservation , and that of reproduction. For practical 
purposes we must examine the more specific forms. The 
reproductive instinct is certainly one of the main powers 
behind life, and manifests itself in many forms and various 
combinations. Perhaps no one has so well presented the 



16 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

strength and especially the unconscious manifestations of 
this instinct in human life as Schopenhauer in his rather 
poetic chapter on " The Life of the Species." He describes 
its great power in animals ; shows how it is even greater 
in man but directed in regard to ways and means by 
reason ; how it triumphs over self-love and even extends 
to the sacrifice of life itself. Speaking of the important 
role which the relation of the sexes plays in the world of 
man, he says : '' It is really the invisible central point of 
all action and all conduct, and peeps out everywhere in 
spite of all veils thrown over it. It is the cause of war 
and the end of peace, the basis of v/hat is serious and the 
aim of the jest, the inexhaustible source of wit, the key 
to all allusions, and the meaning of all mysterious hints, 
of all unspoken offers, and all stolen glances. ... It is, 
however, the piquant element and the joke of life that the 
chief concern of all men is secretly pursued and ostensibly 
ignored as much as possible. But, in fact, we see it every 
moment seat itself, as the true and hereditary lord of the 
world, out of the fullness of its own strength, upon the 
ancestral throne, and looking down from thence with 
scornful glances, laughs at the preparations which have 
been made to bind it, imprison it, or at least to limit and, 
wherever it is possible, to keep it concealed, or even so 
to master it that it shall only appear as a subordinate, 
secondary concern of life." 

For the wide scientific view of this instinct we must be- 
come familiar with Dr. Hall's great work on ''Adolescence." 
Here he shows how love sensitizes the soul to the influences 
of nature, and thereby becomes a great factor in the evolu- 
tion of art, literature, and natural religion ; how it develops 



rOUKTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 17 

into a great multiplicity of sentiments and actions ; how 
it radiates or, so to speak, gets behind the love of race or 
enthusiasm for humanity and the thirst for knowledge. 

Only get the absolute facts from a boy or girl during 
the golden age of this instinct and you find everything 
else subordinated to it. Ask the young man why he is 
struggling under such difficulties to complete his educa- 
tion. He will probably say at first that he wants a job. 
But, my promising lad, why do you want a job ? Have 
you not something beyond this to which your job only 
serves as a means ? The psychological observer cannot 
help but be amazed at the success with which the aver- 
age adolescent conceals his or her real motives even from 
parents. Finally, my readers, just as we shall never make 
any substantial progress toward the solution of the moral 
problems of life until we learn how to regulate this in- 
stinct that exalts to heaven and debases to hell, so we 
will never be able to comprehend two thirds of human 
conduct until we realize the depth and power of this 
biological impulse. 

2. Parental instinct. Parental care is the most direct 
radiation or completion and extension of the sexual instinct. 
It has been developed in all the higher animals and in 
some to a very marked degree. This instinct is certainly 
stronger in women than in men. It would be impossible 
to find in the whole domain of psychology such direct 
evidence of the creation of will power by instinct as may 
be seen in the transition of a frivolous, frolicsome, selfish, 
irritable, impatient girl into a patient, thoughtful, self- 
sacrificing mother. The apparent miracle, the creation of 
will power, apparently out of nothing, the complete reversal 



18 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

of her reasoning processes, are all due to the turning loose 
of an instinct as old as the first animal mother. Then, like 
Tolstoi's Anna, she thinks she has found her real self, and 
is glad to face even death to further the life of her offspring. 
3. Fear instinct. Fear seems to be wrought into our 
bones. It is one of the oldest elements of the human soul. 
It shows its powers early in the deep-seated cliildish fears ; 
it is with us in some form until the dreaded grave swallows 
us up. Fear comes in conflict with other instincts, such 
as anger, pugnacity, initiative, curiosity, sexual instinct, thus 
producing a strain and hesitation. This hesitation is pro- 
duced in the higher animals as well as in man. There are 
many instinctive fears, but in man, under certain circum- 
stances, the general instinctive tendency to fear may take 
almost any form. When we contrast our fears with those 
of the primitive savage we see one great difference between 
the animal and human instincts — plasticity due to intelli- 
gence. Intelligence and civilization have removed many of 
the original causes of fear, but they have also given us 
others, perhaps of a milder form. We have arrived at a 
point where the dread of disease has become an important 
practical problem of science. There is an old saying that 
the plague hath slain its thousands, but the fear of the 
plague its tens of thousands. Behold men and women 
ever haunted by some fear of disease, of loss of property, 
of social standing, of positions, of friends, fear of being 
found out, fear lest sacred beliefs crumble in the dust and 
all the world be lost, fear of some false doctrine, of desertion 
even by those who love them most, of approaching old age 
and death. Truly it seems that man is born, lives, and dies 
in a state of fear. 



rOUNTAi:N^S OF HUMAN COIN^DUCT 19 

On the other hand, fear is one of the greatest educators 
in the world. To fear aright is invaluable to both animals 
and man. All kinds of enemies assail us to do us physical, 
economic, intellectual, and moral harm. Proper fear in the 
form of anticipatory pain is often our only protection. In 
childhood the memory of physical pain acts as an inhibi- 
tory force. Later the fear of mere negative consequences 
gradually develops into, or is supplemented by, the fear of 
losing the positive good in the form of a reward. This fear 
acts as a constant stimulus on all of us. Moral life and 
regularity of conduct would be in great danger of ship- 
wreck if it were not for the fear of social blame. Fear of 
future consequences to humanity has helped to fill the 
hearts of reformers with enthusiasm for their cause. 

4. Property instinct. That animal inheritance and the 
long struggles of primitive man to sustain life have handed 
down to us a genuine instinct to hoard, to have, and to 
possess is now absolutely evident. The kleptomaniac who 
steals solely for the sake of stealing is the most animal- 
Hke manifestation of this hoarding instinct ; but from the 
kleptomaniac all the way up to the man who desires the 
world, even though the intellect presents various reasons 
for his conduct, there is no sharp line of separation. Further- 
more, this instinctive power is never absent in the hoarding 
of wealth. It is always fertilizing the intellect with motives. 
We cannot doubt the force of Schopenhauer's remark that 
selfishness often beguiles a man into believing that he is 
serving others when in reality he is prompted to service 
by his own instinctive tendencies. 

The purpose of this work will not permit a more ex- 
tended presentation of the large number of human instincts 



20 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

not yet mentioned. We may only call attention to such 
as the play instinct, which has great significance and 
value for man ; curiosity, the spur of the intellect ; social 
instinct, giving the proper soil for the formation of cliques, 
groups, organizations, society, the mob ; jealousy, sympathy, 
pity, modesty, cleanliness, hunting, fighting, anger, and 
many physical activities of children, such as crying, suck- 
ing, biting, clasping, — these are all instinctive activities, 
furnishing a part of the hidden fountains of human life. 

Definition of Instinct. A vast number of definitions 
might be culled from books. They vary from the appar- 
ently simple statement of Dr. Brinton that '' instinct is 
nothing but petrified habit," to the more elaborate and 
well-scrutinized definitions, such as Mr. Morgan's state- 
ment that '' instincts are congenital, adaptive, and coor- 
dinated activities of relative complexity, and involving the 
behaviour of the organism as a whole." 

James gives us a very clear and comprehensive defini- 
tion : '' Instinct ^^ he says, '' is the faculty of acting in such 
a way as to produce certain ends, ivithout foresight of the 
ends, and without previous education in the pcrforniancer 
I have no inclination to criticize definitions. Such criticism 
is unprofitable and narrowing. The great variety of defi- 
nitions indicates the difficulties of the subject with which 
we deal. A brief summary and a few general statements 
concerning instincts may be of more service than definitions 
and may lead to a clearer idea of the subject. 

1. All instinctive tendencies are first manifested as im> 
pulses, but not all impulses are instincts, because man) 
impulses may be individual, while instinctive impulscis. 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 21 

belong to a whole group or species. For example, impulsive 
suicide is not an instinct, even though it be, as Eibot sug- 
gests, a perverted instinct. It is too individualistic to be 
classed as an instinct. 

2. The strength of these innate tendencies and instincts 
varies in different individuals and in different races, and 
they are favored or checked in their development in pro- 
portion to their original strength, according to the degree 
of intellectual development and to the different environ- 
mental conditions. This difference in original strength of 
these tendencies and in the favorable or unfavorable con- 
ditions, taken in totality, accounts for all the differences 
among men. 

3. These instinctive reactions may be produced by direct 
perception of the objects or by ideas of the objects, and, 
through the association of ideas, by quite different ideas. 
Thus in man many instincts may be aroused at the same time. 

4. Largely through imitation and habit instinctive ten- 
dencies become crystallized about certain related groups 
of objects or ideas. 

5. The time order of the appearance of the various in- 
stincts is not so regular or so well marked in man as in 
animals. 

6. The manifestation of the many powerful emotional 
instincts of adolescence is often entirely overlooked or inade- 
quately conceived because of the intellectital power accom- 
panying them and once supposed to have the right of way. 

7. Instincts that, under normal conditions, appear, run 
their course, and give way to others may often be confirmed 
by habit; others may be entirely suppressed. Even instinct 
is not so persistent as is commonly supposed. The individual 



22 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

may inherit the potentiality, but soon loses it if not 
stimulated at the right time. An incubator chick does 
not follow a hen any sooner than it follows other animals. 
Goslings and ducks kept away from the water for a few 
months after hatching lose their instinctive tendency for 
water and even fear it. 

8. Undue alarm is often felt concerning supposed detri- 
mental instincts that appear, but simply have their fling, 
wane in strength, or almost suddenly disappear. How- 
ever, we do not mean to say that such tendencies should 
be entirely neglected. Abnormal forms of instincts that 
need the most skilled treatment may occasionally appear 
and milder forms may be persisted in too long. Dramatic, 
imaginative lying, fighting, the destructive craze often of 
an apparently cruel nature, spasmodic hoarding or stealing, 
pride, easily confirmed by imitation and habit, these and 
many others are usually of the nature above mentioned. 

9. As before noted, instincts often contradict each 
other, thus causing a conflict and hesitation in conduct, 
indeed, often producing contradictory characters and ap- 
parent hypocrites. A man possessed of a strong desire to 
have and to hold this world's goods, and also possessed 
of an intense desire for social preferment, finds it difficult 
to act with any degree of consistency. 

10. As manifested in man, after the first brief period 
of life and after experience, instinct is neither blind nor 
vjitlioitt variation ; and tuhile intelligence may guide as to 
ways and means, ive must not, in general, assume it to he 
the cause of action. 

11. Lastly, instinct is the basis of the emotional life 
and consequently of character, as we shall prove later. 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 23 

III. Imitation as a Fountain of Human Conduct 

So universal and important is the instinct to imitate, 
— important not only in its relation to all the other 
instincts, but also to all the activities of life, — that with- 
out special consideration of it, one of the greatest factors 
of human conduct will remain hidden from us, and we 
will ever be wanting a key to many of the problems of 
life. Look at the great world, everywhere teeming with 
life ; nearly every form of conscious life tends to respond 
in a similar way to some other form of conscious life 
round about it. The early activities of most of the higher 
animals, and especially of the human animal, whether 
they be movements, cries, or whatnot, are mainly imita- 
tions of the corresponding kind of life surrounding them. 
Morgan points out the important place which imitation 
plays in the animal world and shows how it takes the 
place of many apparently specific instincts. This strong 
instinctive tendency is usually without any conscious 
intention. 

There is some difference of opinion as to whether imita- 
tion should be regarded as an instinct. James, Baldwin, 
and many other writers consider it an instinct. James 
says, '' This sort of intelligence is possessed by man in 
common with other gregarious animals, and is an instinct 
in the fullest sense of the term." A careful and distin- 
guished recent writer, McDougall, so defines instinct as to 
exclude imitation. One objection his definition raises is 
that imitative actions are so extremely varied that there 
is no specific movement or end. His chief objection is 
that there is no common feeling-state underlying all these 



24 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

varieties of imitative action. This would bring it in con- 
flict with his definition which requires an instinct to have 
a definite feeling-state. But certainly imitation is rarely 
guided by intelligence ; it cannot be explained under re- 
flex action ; no previous education is needed for its appli- 
cation; it is an inherent tendency to repeat the actions 
of the other individuals of the same species, and is fre- 
quently strong enough to extend to the imitation of other 
species. 

This instinct differs from the others in that it joins its 
power to any and all the other instincts, modifying and 
fixing them in conformity to the older activities then in 
vogue, whenever the conflict is not too great. Its end is 
correspondence, uniformity ; it manifests itself in two 
forms — conscious and tmconscious. So powerful is uncon- 
scious imitation that even conscious effort not to imitate 
often avails nothing, such as our efforts not to absorb 
the undesirable habits and customs of people with whom 
we come in contact. Even the simple things, like the 
movements and positions of the head, walking, talking, 
yawning, laughing, stammering, and stuttering are often 
spread by imitation, even against determined effort to 
ward them off. Quite unconsciously we acquire what once 
seemed to us strange and peculiar accents and variations 
of speech. Certain gestures may spread through a whole 
nation. Phrases and forms of prayers are often extensively 
imitated. 

The keen observation of Aristotle led him to declare 
that man is the most imitative of all the animals, that 
'' imitation is innate in men from childhood." Darwin 
was astonished at the imitative power of the Fuegians, 



rOUNTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 25 

who, '' as often as we coughed or yawned, or made any- 
odd motion, . . . immediately imitated us." Even insanity 
may be imitated to the extent of becoming real in the 
person imitating it. The French have a special word to 
designate such insanity. If unconscious imitation were 
not so common as not to attract attention, it would appeal 
to us as one of the wonders of life. An act is performed 
in the presence of another organism, or a sound is uttered, 
and then, without any desire to imitate it or any con- 
sciousness of the power that presides over it, the appro- 
priate nervous and muscular action follows. One of the 
rules of simple morals is — do yourself what you wish 
children to do, and do it without comment. 

The first principle in training feeble-minded and idiotic 
children is appeal to this fountain of human life. Place 
yourself on a level with them and do the simple things 
most natural for them to do in their state of development, 
gradually rising higher and higher. In a very large de- 
gree the development and training of animals depend 
upon their instinctive tendency to imitate other trained 
animals and the trainer. I once saw several horses in 
training for the first time. I was perfectly astounded at 
the readiness with which they imitated the acts of the 
regulars and even of the circus manager. So powerful is 
this instinct to act in conformity to others, that the wild 
children that have been found with animals went on all 
fours, growled, and acted like the animals with which they 
lived. Some dozen or more of such children have been found. 
Some years ago two noted specimens, supposed to be twelve 
or fourteen years old, were found and brought to London. 
Both went on hands and feet and growled like animals. 



26 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

This power of imitation, seated on the throne beside 
its helpmate, hahit, presides over the general trend of 
human activity and directs for better or worse the destiny 
of millions. It is the indirect agent in the formation of 
the life and character of the child; it seizes a whole 
organization, crowd, or nation of people ; it is one of the 
powerful factors in preserving the customs and traditions 
of the ages ; it establishes fashions, creates constitutions 
and laws, helps to spread religion and education. Charac- 
ter is largely unconscious imitative ahsorption. 

A superficial view of imitation would limit its power 
to physical activities, but a proper analysis show^s that it 
pervades the whole of mental and evolutional life, and, as 
stated above, seizes a whole people. The initiative are few, 
the imitative are legion. We constantly tend to imitate 
others in thoughts, modes of thinking and feeling, and 
even in religion, as well as in physical activity. In a great 
city like Constantinople one is amazed at the strange life 
and customs pervading the whole people, and seeks in vain 
for what he would call a reasonable explanation for the 
continuation of such conditions. Alas 1 he looks in the 
wrong direction for an answer. The answer is found in 
two words — imitation and hahit. 

When imitation takes the form of the dramatic it soon 
passes into the creative and rises even to its opposite — 
the initiative. In like manner it is related to emulation 
and rivalry. 

Conscious imitation develops out of unconscious imita- 
tion. The higher forms of imitation are accompanied and 
guided by intelligence ; but intelligence does not say, 
" Come, let us imitate." The desire arises from a deep 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 27 

itnderlying impulse. Intelligence seeks ways and means 
for carrying out this tendency. In proportion as one acts 
rationally he either becomes original and initiative or 
rationally imitates what he deems the best, whether it be 
of the past or of the present, of his own or other nations, 
of the upper or lower classes. Such an individual is both 
conservative and radical. It may be safely stated that 
few minds rise to this height. We tend to imitate those 
in power, such as kings and rulers. The poor tend to 
imitate the rich ; the unsuccessful the more successful ; 
the country imitates the city ; the high schools imitate the 
colleges ; the supposed superior institutions are largely 
imitated by the others. 

Tarde, in his great work on '' The Laws of Imitation," 
declares that " everything which is social and nonvital or 
nonphysical in the phenomena of societies is caused by 
imitation." Under such forms as passive imitativeness and 
self-originating imitation he gives a power to imitation 
never before realized. He draws his copious illustrations 
from social resemblances, from archeological records, from 
religion, from governments, from custom and fashion, from 
literature and art. The stage is the best place to see this 
wavering between conscious imitation and initiative. It is 
also the place to observe the genuine pleasure we derive 
from imitation. 

Thus, whatever we may think of its possible extension 
into these fields, nothing is more evident than the fact 
that imitation is one of the sources from which proceed 
many of the manifestations of conduct, both animal and 
human ; and even what we call reason is often only dis- 
guised imitation. 



28 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Tarde's law that imitation proceeds from within outward 
finds a clear application in all cases where our imitation is 
dominated by a sense of prestige or superiority. Witness 
the great tendency in us to imitate our supposed superiors 
in dress, in furniture, in social customs, in education, in 
occupations, in speech, in reading, in art and literature, in 
systems of thought and religion. Of course we save our 
respectability and keep down the feeling of humility by 
making ourselves believe that we do it all because it is 
highly reasonable; but it is safe to say that in most of 
such cases prestige or the sense of superiority first con^ 
quered us and prepared the way for our conclusions. In 
like manner weak nations do not often imitate their supe- 
riors until they begin to feel their own weakness and the 
others superiority. In such cases we delude ourselves into 
believing that these things really express our truest indi- 
viduality. But James well says, " As a matter of fact we 
find ourselves believing, we hardly know how or why." 

" The spirit of the age " reigns because of unconscious 
imitation. It took men a long time to discover the atmos- 
phere, because everything is seen through that medium. 
Likewise, it has taken long to realize that " the spirit of 
the age" is conventionality and custom, because they 
form a psychic atmosphere in which all minds are bathed 
and through which everything is viewed. Well may we 
emphasize the saying of Plato, " The many have only 
imitated the opinions of others." 

Imitation is the instinctive tendency to respond either 
consciously or unconsciously to suggested movements^ con- 
duct, or behavior of any and all kinds, hy repeating or 
approximating the same. 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 29 

Conclusion. It is necessary to repeat that this presen- 
tation of The Will to Live, of Instincts, and of Imitation 
as sources of human conduct in no wise aims to be a com- 
plete treatment of these topics. It is, we hope, a suitable 
approach to the problems of psychology. The significance 
of the ideas developed will become clearer and grow in 
importance as we apply these ideas to the various prob- 
lems of this science. Numerous questions have arisen in 
the mind of the reader. Some will be answered; many 
cannot be answered. But stimulus to thinking is the end 
of all study. 

If we wish to push our inquiry to larger problems, we 
may ask if all instincts were once preceded by insight or 
intelligence which directed activity to specific ends; if 
such activity then became crystallized into habit, and the 
habit was then transmitted to posterity as an instinct. 
Would such a view confer upon the lower animals an 
incredible amount of intelligence ? But how are these 
potential activities preserved and what guides them with 
such unerring certainty ? Does intelligence gradually de- 
velop out of instinct? Or, put in a more concise form, 
is instinct lapsed intelligence or intelligence in the 
making ? After what is the will to live striving ? What 
guides it in its struggles ? In the unconscious imitation 
of others, what presides over the muscular activities ? 
If imitation plays such a large part in life, what becomes 
of our boasted originality and independence? With 
these and other forces behind conduct what can be 
the authority for and use of punishment ? Some kind of 
an answer to these and other problems may dawn upon 
us as we proceed. 



30 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

It is hoped that the intimate relations of all the forces 
of mind have begun to be evident to the student. The 
luill to live is inseparable from the other instincts. The 
instincts all bear an essential and often complicated rela- 
tion to each other. Imitation is the essential instinct for 
the conformity and direction of the other instincts. The 
reader must constantly bear in mind that we are investi- 
gating a great network of forces that have recently been 
shown to influence human conduct. Many of them, like 
the unobserved aesthetic beauties of daily life, are not felt 
simply because of their continual presence ; and others 
are the deeper, subtler, finer and more powerful forces, the 
discovery of which has characterized modern science. Any 
effort to regulate or comprehend the life of man is wise 
and valuable in proportion as these forces and their rela- 
tions are understood. We now pass to the intimately 
related subject of Hahit as the power which confirms, 
inwardizes, and personalizes imitation. 



CHAPTEE II 

FOUXTAIXS OF HUMAX COXDUCT (Continued) 

IV. Habit as a Fouxtaix of Human Conduct 

The sum total of the psychical processes are so depend- 
ent, interdependent, and related one to another that it 
becomes difficult to maintain a separate presentation of 
them. The realization of this complicated relation is one 
of the main achievements of modern psychology. It is not 
to be regretted, but it must be admitted that such realiza- 
tion multiplies the difficulty of our problem and makes 
some repetition imperative. It is also a psychological fact 
that a problem viewed from many sides gives an attitude of 
mind far suioerior to any list of distinctions and definitions. 
Eeflexive, habitual, instinctive, impulsive, conceptual, and 
volitional activities are in some phases so distinct that con- 
fusion need not occur ; in others they are so dependent, 
related, and mixed that any unadulterated definition or 
distinction is impossible. 

Reflex Action. As a preliminary step to the considera- 
tion of liahit I deem it wise to call attention to the chief 
facts about reflex action. Historically and biologically it is 
the oldest of all the activities, and directly or indirectly 
the basis of many of the other responses. In the chemical 
laboratory I find a common match. It is a simple explosive, 

31 



32 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

capable of a definite response to certain disturbances. 
Nitroglycerin is another compound capable of respond- 
ing to slight and varied stimuli. Again, guncotton will 
respond to even a slight change in temperature, and 
iodide of nitrogen explodes from a slight motion of the 
paper on which it rests or from a disturbance caused by 
walking over the floor. From the lowest to the highest de- 
gree of responsiveness to outside agencies there are many 
gradations of chemical compounds. In like manner, from 
the comparatively simple response of the amoeba to outside 
forces there are all conceivable degrees of ever-increasing 
readiness to respond to slight changes in conditions and to 
a greater multiplicity of disturbances until we reach man, 
whose accumulated complexity of structure, instincts, im- 
pulses, and feelings gives a possibility of response surpass- 
ing all comprehension. In the lower organisms, and to 
quite an extent in man, this response to external condi- 
tions is what we call reflex action. At present I shall not 
attempt a complete differentiation of reflex action from 
instinct and impulse, but leave this for future considera- 
tion under will. Suffice it now that we have examples 
sufficient to establish an idea. To avoid confusion I shall 
give them under two divisions — conscious and unconscious 
reflex actions. 

When a boy I remember having shot a turtle's head to 
fragments. Having left it in the water, three days later I 
was astounded beyond measure to find its body still "alive." 
Its reflex actions were many and varied. The entire brain 
of a frog may be destroyed, and yet after many days, if 
kept in water, the frog is still capable of remarkable reflex 
movements. A paper with acid on it will be removed 



rOUNTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 33 

from its back if the frog can at all reach it with its 
foot. Finally, after all force seems spent, an injection of 
strychnine into the frog will temporarily restore the 
reflexes. Again, without entering into the dispute as to 
just what acts of the lower organisms are conscious and 
what unconscious, we will have no trouble in finding 
many that must be classified as unconscious reflex actions. 
Many rather exact unconscious reflex movements are often 
performed during sleep. A fly or any other object irritating 
any accessible part of the body will be removed. The cold 
may compel us unconsciously to pull up the cover. The 
somnambulist, or sleep walker, is not uncommon. We 
may cough or sneeze unconsciously. Under the influence 
of anaesthetics the unconscious reflexes may be very great, 
including unconscious reflexive laughing or crying. 

By imperceptible degrees of intensity of stimuli do we 
pass from unconscious to conscious reflex action, No one 
can tell just what faint degree of consciousness marks the 
difference, and always when and where it comes in. In 
conscious reflex acts consciousness is present, hut it is not 
the ruling cause which prompts the action. Such action has 
no directing idea of purpose. At a sudden, unexpected 
noise you may jump, scream, or cling to some object; a 
harmless mouse produces a profusion and a confusion of 
conscious reflexes. I threaten to throw my book at you ; 
you know I will not, yet many reflex movements follow. 
Hysterical laughing, crying, twitching, etc., are conscious 
reflex actions. In all of these movements we are conscious 
that they are taking place, but consciousness does not 
prompt them and is powerless to govern them or at least 
entirely to prevent them. The degree of consciousness 



34 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

varies in different people and in different acts. As we 
shall see later, consciousness does come in as a prompting 
and guiding power in the higlier acts of human life, but 
even here the reflex tendency is generally present either 
as an antagonizing or as a cooperative force. Hence a 
comprehension of such activities is essential to a proper 
understanding of their higher products, which we shall 
study later. The nearest relative of reflex action is liahit. 
Eeflex action is the physiological stuff out of which habit 
is made. 

" Man is born, lives, and dies in a state of slavery. At 
his birth he is wrapped in swaddling clothes, at his death 
he is nailed in his coffin," cried the great soul of Eousseau 
as it rebelled against the power of habit. He did not rise 
to that larger truth that the best things in the ivorld are 
also the most dangerous. For instance, a vivid imagination 
is the mother of art, poetry, and literature ; but it may 
also be the source of crime and hallucinations. An intense 
emotional life moves humanity ; but, if turned in the 
wrong direction, it is dangerous beyond measure. We 
might deifLonstrate this truth by the whole list of the 
most highly appreciated qualities of mankind. 

I should like to modify the oft-quoted phrase of Well- 
ington, " Habit is ten times nature," into Habit is partic- 
ularized and confirmed nature. The instinctive tendencies 
to act along general lines are one and all inherited habits, 
but not necessarily in the sense that they originated from 
previous habit, or, as Dr. Brinton would have us believe, 
that " instinct is nothing but petrified habit." In this brief 
treatment we shall be concerned chiefly with habits devel- 
oped in living organisms during the life of such organisms. 



rOUNTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 35 

Wide View of Habit. At first it may seem ridiculous to 
speak of the habits of material objects or of chemical 
compounds, but in a large and true sense liahit is simply 
predisposition to respond more readily in a similar way 
lender similar circumstances and conditions. Every one 
knows how the structure of a chemical compound deter- 
mines its predisposition to respond in a certain way. A 
bar of iron acquires a new habit by becoming magnetic. 
The same chemical molecules that produce the harmless 
acetic acid, by some strange rearrangement become the 
poisonous butyric acid — quite a contrary habit is acquired. 
The most delicately balanced scales are never the same 
after the touch of the human hand. Delicate musical 
instruments acquire habits of response. Wires, cables, and 
countless other objects acquire habits of position and 
response. That habit is essentially physical cannot be 
denied. " The laws of Nature are nothing but immutable 
habits." 

In the organic world a high degree of complexity and 
plasticity gives a habit formation commensurate with the 
same. With highly complex and consequently plastic 
organisms the modifications in predisposition of response 
are practically unlimited. The plasticity of plants permits 
them to acquire a countless number of habits. Under 
the skillful guidance of the great botanist. Dr. Bessy, I 
saw plants flourishing under various kinds of artificial 
conditions : some were growing under all degrees of light, 
from the strong, constant electric light down to long periods 
of darkness with slight periods of light ; others under many 
different rates of motion ; still others with certain gases 
pouring on them all the time. These and many other 



36 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

conditions were forcing on these plants habits never before 
a part of their response. Tliousands of experiments have 
been made with the lower animal organisms, establishing 
in them modes of response of which they were once 
supposed incapable. In the great field of observation of 
animals Morgan assures us that many specific activities 
once assigned to inherited instinctive reactions are habits 
acquired in the liftetime of the organism. 

In our own bodies do we not find that a sprained limb, 
an inflamed gland, position of limbs, any drug or food pro- 
ducing a violent disorder of the stomach, cases of neuralgia 
and rheumatism, leave the part or tissue so modified that 
even a comparatively slight stimulus will tend to reinstate 
a similar bodily condition ? Primitive peoples often modify 
the shape of the skull, size of the limbs, etc. by forcing 
them to a habit of growth. Kote how habit adapts our 
whole organism to certain positions. We stand in a given 
way, we unconsciously hold our pen, knife, fork, comb, 
razor, tools in a given way. By habit we come to like a 
certain chair, bed, place in a car or at the table ; certain 
modes of dress are often defended as artistic and sensible 
when in reality there is nothing in their favor but the 
power of habit. The habits of playing with one's watch 
chain, of swinging the foot while sitting, of biting the 
nails, of nodding assent to what we do not hear or ap- 
prove, of continual tapping on the desk, often of yawning 
and sneezing, are simple confirmed reflex actions of which 
we may be conscious ; yet consciousness is not the cause 
of them. In like manner the repetition of various physical 
activities at a certain time and under certain conditions 
may occur by force of habit alone. 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 37 

Habit in the Nervous System. In the last analysis we 
must center our attention on the nervous system and its 
incomprehensible complexity and plasticity as the great 
source of this hahit-forming jpoioer. Modern science has 
established beyond question not only that the nervous 
system controls all bodily movements, but also that cer- 
tain definite parts of this system control definite specific 
movements. All bodily tissues are capable of playing a part 
in habit formation, but nervous tissue is sensitive to an ex- 
tent which baffles the imagination. Only when we come 
to consider the extraordinary powers of the senses can we 
fully appreciate this statement. So sensitive is the nervous 
system that the slightest, even unconscious, movements, 
the odors of flowers and foods, the conscious and uncon- 
scious position of the vocal organs, the chirp of the cricket, 
the song of birds, the sound of a violin, the delicate forms 
of touch, and slight variations in form and color, all so 
modify the structure of the nervous system as to establish 
a predisposition to respond more readily in a similar way 
again. All things else heing equal, the oftener such nerve 
action is repeated the more ready is the response, and the 
more unlikely is any other response in the presence of simi- 
lar stimuli. Just what takes place in these millions of 
delicate fibers that make up our sense organs, and just 
how so many modifications can be made on so small a 
structure, perhaps to remain in some form for life, we can- 
not comprehend. James says, " Nothing is easier than to 
imagine how, when a current has once traversed a path, 
it should traverse it more readily still a second time." 
While this is true, it gives no notion of the nature of 
these delicate modifications. 



38 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Power of Habit in Education. We cannot escape habits 
no matter how loud Eousseau's cry against them may 
ring out. A large number of our first general responses 
are inherited predispositions. The general hues, con- 
stantly narrowed by the repeated activities of life, ere 
life is far advanced, wonderfully and permanently reduce 
the great plasticity of the nervous system. We have no 
choice but to form habits. Every moment we drift 
toward the destiny they create. Before the thirties are 
reached you see the lines are being drawn. The move- 
ments, gestures, and postures of the body are well fixed ; 
the voice, even though it be annoying to most other 
people, is fixed and is a satisfaction to the individical ; the 
responses to music, poetry, art, rehgion, and science are 
rapidly drifting to their final destiny ; some profession 
has set its mark on each individual, and habit precludes 
his thinking of any other ; habit has fixed his social rank 
and made him reasonably content with it. If habit did 
not prevent us from dwelling on these limitations, advanc- 
ing years would be accompanied by a tinge of pathos; 
indeed, in many cases such limitations are keenly realized. 
But usually a man deals with his habits as he does with 
his perverted religious or political notions ; it is the other 
fellow whose life and general welfare is threatened by 
them. So it is with habit; it is the other fellow who is 
the victim of habit. " I regulate my life by reason and 
good sense and could break through my feio habits if I 
wanted to do soT We often hear the argument that people 
who have readied maturity with little or no appreciation 
of music, poetry, art, or science, have the power to become 
developed in any one of these lines if they would only 



FOUlSTTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 39 

devote their whole energy to it. This is like a thousand 
other forms of false reasoning. That little word if begs 
the whole problem. The confirmed opium eater could 
stop if lie luoidd only try hard enough. But where resides 
the power to cause him to try ? Suppose I am told at the 
age of thirty or forty that I might yet become the greatest 
violinist in the world ; is there a shadow of foundation 
for such a statement ? If the ear ever possessed the won- 
derful power of those fine discriminations necessary for 
such art, has not habit long since established reactions 
which make these impossible ? Aside from this, you at 
once encounter the supreme difficulty — I tell you that I 
do not care to become a violinist. If I ever had any 
ambition in that hue, it is gone. Indeed, I am much more 
satisfied and happy to spend my days teaching and writ- 
ing books. You tell me of some noted cases of achieve- 
ments late in life, and of great plasticity carried late into 
the seventies or eighties. I am little affected by this, for, 
in spite of dogmatic theology, I instinctively know that 
there are all grades of soul life, and I look around 'for the 
average of mankind. So far as either ability or obstacles 
are concerned, the transition from a scientist to a theolo- 
gian, or vice versa, does not seem difficult ; yet how seldom 
do you hear of such a thing. 

Certainly all we have said concerning the force of bodily 
and intellectual habits applies with even greater force in 
relation to the passions and appetites, with the possible 
reservation that many of the passions and appetites natu- 
rally decline with years, and in early life any single one 
usually encounters great antagonism from the others. Alas, 
we lack no proof that lying, theft, anger, nervousness, 



40 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

melancholy, drunkenness, and immorality set their mark 
upon their victims and usually accompany them to the grave. 

Lest we tend toward pessimism recall the maxim, The 
best things in the luorld are also the most dangerous. With- 
out habit individuality and personality would be lost, and 
we could not be relied upon ; great achievements in any 
one line would be impossible ; so much energy would be 
squandered as to threaten the existence of life itself ; per- 
manency and order would give way to chaos ; dissatisfac- 
tion with ourselves, our condition, and station in life would 
become intolerable. Habit economizes energy and makes 
us immeasurably more efficient than we could be without it. 
While we are busy with these thoughts, habit is moving 
our muscles and executing our words. Behold the wonder- 
ful efficiency in all games, due to habit; the astounding 
achievements of animals; the ease and efficiency of the 
circus performer ; the skill of the piano player whose habit 
seems unconsciously to abide in the finger tips ; the habits 
of the fingers, the lips, and sometimes of the toes, by which 
means the blind are able to read ; the ability of the deaf 
and dumb to understand us by the movements of our 
muscles of speech ; or turn to the efficient accountant whose 
extraordinary skill and accuracy the average individual 
can scarcely comprehend. 

Again, habit often converts even the apparent burdens 
of life into pleasures. We marvel at the sacrifice of the 
Six Hundred, but largely through accumulated predispo- 
sition and the habit of obedience to commands, "into 
the jaws of death rode the Six Hundred." Habit makes 
the relation between master and slave appear to each 
as the most natural and proper one. The burdens of the 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAK CONDUCT 41 

destined poor are greatly lightened by habit. It is a great 
thing to form the habit of truthfulness, of honesty, of self- 
control, of prolonged attention, of supreme effort, of intense 
study, of great physical and intellectual endurance, of self- 
sacrifice, of being content with the misfortunes of life. If 
we were obliged to fight over our moral battles each time 
without the assistance and strength of accumulated habits, 
the devil might get us all. 

The Habit of Breaking Habits. Not only must we con- 
stantly aim to form good habits, but bad ones that have 
crept in must be rooted up and others put in their places. 
And even habits that under certain circumstances and at 
certain periods are good, must be modified to permit of 
growth and proper adjustments to changing conditions. 

1. The first step is a feeling of necessity for breaking a 
habit. In general language, a peculiar person is usually 
one who has habits differing in some marked degree from 
ours. We wonder why he does not abandon such pecu- 
liarities ; we proclaim it easy if he only had sense enough 
to try. If he should turn upon us and say : " Why do you 
walk so heavily? What makes you talk so quickly and 
sharply ? Or why do you constantly frown when you talk 
to people, or look away off into the distance ? Why don't 
you reform yourself before you begin to reform others ? " 
the first and most common answer is a smile or a sneer 
which says: "That is my business. Am I not satisfied 
with myself? Am I not all right?" A more critical 
answer would be : "I do not believe you are right. I am 
not conscious of doing anything of the kind. Even if I 
do, it does not affect people so seriously as your habits." 



42 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Finally, if we should be brought to realize the truth of 
his criticism, in many cases we would say to ourselves, 
" The game is not worth the powder." That is, the meager 
results will not justify the effort needed to abandon our 
ways. If one will only note the criticisms which people 
make concerning each other and analyze the attitude 
toward such criticisms, he can verify the above state- 
ments daily. But aside from our troublesome and danger- 
ous bodily habits, we must keep alive some form of change 
in order that growth may continue at all. 

In the simplest things of life lie many mysteries, and 
they are present in many of the cases of changing habits. 
It may be noted that no one changes his habits of life 
without a strong feeling of the necessity for doing so. 
Often reason as to the outcome of the habit may furnish 
this force. But why do some individuals reason as to the 
outcome while others do not? Why is reason sometimes 
so delayed ? Self-deception is the greatest enemy of human 
life. One point may be found in the fact that most of the 
passions that enslave a man with bad habits tend to wane 
and die with advancing years. The period of " sowing 
wild oats " is not normally the whole life. Again, " life is 
a constant adjustment of inner to outer relations." Any 
modification of either of these tends to beget a modification 
of life. Often it is the very excess of the habit itself that 
inaugurates desire for chang-e. A friend of mine had once 
unconsciously acquired the habit of taking his handker- 
chief from his long-tailed-coat pocket during his sermon 
and simply drawing it across his mouth and then replacing 
it. More than once I directed his attention to the bad effect 
of this oft-repeated habit, but all to no avail. His sister 



rouNTAms OF human conduct 43 

and others did likewise. Finally, one Sabbath his sister 
kept account and afterwards announced with authority 
thirty-four repetitions of this habit during a single service. 
Next Sabbath the handkerchief was left at home, and 
curious nervous movements took the place of the habit. 

For some years a gentleman was addicted to drinking 
in a mild way; Often did his best friends admonish him 
to stop. He made many efforts. About a year ago he 
entered the car one evening sufficiently intoxicated to 
cause him to say many absurd things. Several months 
after that I was quite astonished when he refused wine at 
a banquet. He then turned to me and said: '' That night 
was a blessing to me. It settled what I had often tried in 

vain to settle. I am free forever." The student can readilv 

»/ 

think of many examples similar to these. How strange 
that sometimes we must look into the very mouth of 
destruction in order to escape it. So the first step in 
breaking a habit is a strong feeling of the necessity for 
doing so. 

2. We must act with our whole being. James says, 
'' Launch yourself with determined effort." Here I fear 
that all possible words at my command will fail to de- 
scribe just what is meant by these statements. I refer to 
the fact that signing a pledge or making a vow, although 
consciously sincere, does not always include the lohole 
being. As all sciences have their yet unsolved and, in 
many cases, mysterious problems, so here I refer to such 
a problem in psychology. You may honestly resolve on 
New Year's Day that you will never smoke another ciga- 
rette or tell another lie. You may launch yourself with 
elaborate vows and meditations as if you expected a bitter 



44 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

war. Later your soul is besieged by violent agitations and 
the expected war is on. Soon fleeting, half-subconscious 
suggestions of holding out for one year, or one month, or 
of just one more indulgence, come and go. Only this, and 
probably the battle is lost. 

It is my conviction that in the majority of such cases 
these possible lines of retreat lurked down deep in the 
soul of the individual at the very time of making the 
vow and anticipating a hattle. A large part of human 
conduct is dominated by these possible lines of variation 
or retreat, held in the very depth of the soul. "Who does 
not know, better than I can ever describe it, the power, 
peace, and serenity that result from the surrender of the 
whole heing ? Cut off all possible lines of retreat and your 
battle is more than half won. 

So long as we argue a line of conduct with ourselves or 
with others, the whole heing is not in it. The almost in- 
credible valor, strength, and endurance so often exemplified 
in man are largely due to the fact that all lines of retreat 
are cut off and the whole heing is in it. 

3. Value of increased confidence. If five days after 
your good resolution never to smoke again, your friend 
offers you a cigarette, politely but promptly and without 
argument refuse it. This first step will add confidence 
and consciousness of power. This feeling of increased 
power, to which is soon added that feeling of power which 
results from the restoration of proper normal physiological 
conditions, constitutes reserve force for all future contests. 
" Nothing succeeds like success." 

4. Effects of hahit continue long after we think them 
abolished. When you feel that you have eliminated every 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 45 

trace of your bad habit, be not deceived into again experi- 
menting with it. In most cases its resurrection will prove 
only too easy. If you have been accustomed to having the 
ink on your right, place it on the left, and note how long 
it requires to establish the habit of going to the proper 
place for ink. When you think it is firmly established, 
place the ink back on the right side and observe what a 
comparatively short time is required to reestablish the old 
habit. Fatigue is sometimes all that is necessary to open 
the way for apparently lost habits to manifest themselves. 
This is especially true with habits of speech. The physio- 
logical effects of smoking, drunkenness, immorality, and 
general dissipation are not eradicated by any conversion 
or regeneration. Down even to the grave, all things else 
being equal, the individual remains more susceptible to 
attacks in these lines than he would, had such never in- 
vaded his system. Vital and important as this subject is 
as a fountain of human conducty I must now leave the 
reader to widen the thought by his reading, experimenta- 
tion, and observation. In a later chapter a few words will 
be added on the ethical aspects of habit. Suffice it to say 
here that the most efficient moral individual is not the 
highly rationahzed ethical individual, but the most per- 
fectly hahituated machine. I hope the foregoing is sufficient 
to leave no doubt that hahit is one of the fountains of 
human conduct. 



CHAPTER III 

FOUNTAmS OF HUMAISr CONDUCT (Continued) 

V. Feelings and their Development 

To describe an immediate feeling or an emotion or to 
reproduce one in memory is one of the most difficult arts 
of life; to live it is one of the most real and powerful 
phases of human existence. When they are not mere imi- 
tation, art, music, and literature at their best are the prod- 
ucts of a desperate effort of one person to make others 
realize similar feelings and emotions. It is a struggle to 
objectify the deepest life of the soul. Occasionally we are 
overpowered by a dim remembrance of some strong feeling 
of childhood which no language can describe, yet we value 
it beyond power to estimate. In our own hearts we may 
discover an indefinable, all-powerful restlessness, a longing 
or an ambition for something we know not what, a '' call 
of the wild," or of some deep instinct ; now a positive self- 
feeling which exalts us among the powerful, next a neg- 
ative self-feeling which brings us down from the clouds 
and fills us with loneliness and humility. Fear, anger, 
disgust, wonder, hate, and tenderness in some of their 
multiple forms have left their permanent stamp on our 
souls. Few individuals are so poverty-stricken as never to 
have kept company with admiration, gratitude, scorn, envy, 
reproach, revenge, sympathy, pity, and love. What normal, 

46 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 4T 

matured individual has never been tossed to and fro by 
anger, regret, remorse, shame, love, jealousy, or hatred ? 
Well might Goethe exclaim : '' What a. thing is the heart of 
man ! It is the sole source of everything — of our strength, 
happiness, and misery." 

The above-mentioned feelings, together with their many 
and often indescribable combinations, constitute a foun- 
tain of conduct which, both consciously and unconsciously, 
largely directs and controls no small part of human con- 
duct, reason, memory, and will. It is that we may better 
understand such topics as reason, will, apperception, sug- 
gestion, social psychology, morality, and the whole of daily 
conduct that I present the simpler phases of this great 
theme now. With the many disputed problems, careful 
distinctions, classifications, and definitions of advanced 
analytical psychology I cannot deal in a work intended 
for beginners. To be effective we must fed first and define 
later. Excepting a few simple classifications, distinctions, 
and definitions, no one is better qualified to follow what I 
shall here present than the adolescent reader. '' The life 
of feeling," says Dr. Hall, '' has its prime in youth and we 
are prematurely old and too often senile in heart. What 
does the psychologist of the study know of hate that makes 
men mad or bestial, of love that is not only uncalculating 
but stronger than life, of fear that shakes the pulses, and 
of courage that faces death in its crudest forms, unflinch- 
ingly ? . . . What we feel is secondhand, bookish, shop- 
worn, and the heart is parched and bankrupt." 

In ordinary language feeling is used in a very wide 
sense. Common sensations such as touch, pain, hunger, 
thirst, temperature, are spoken of as feelings. Again, we 



48 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

refer to love, hate, joy, sorrow, hope, anxiety, pride, vanity, 
wonder, awe, honor, truth, virtue, doubt, approbation, rever- 
ence for the past, etc. as feelings. We include also the more 
intense psychological states known as the emotions, which 
are simply intensified and complex feelings usually accom- 
panied hy some marked hodily manifestations. Some rep- 
resentative idea into which imagination may enter greatly 
intensifies emotions, but such is not a necessary condition 
of emotion. These examples will suggest the enormously 
wide use of this word. 

Has this common psychology any justification ? Cer- 
tainly it has. Just as suicide and melancholy have their 
true causes hidden from the careless observer, so back of 
this apparent loose use of the word '' feeling " lie at least 
two common elements. If we disregard the dispute about 
neutral states, all feehngs referred to under this use of the 
word are in some degree either pleasurable or painful. 
Later, I shall present an apparent paradox under the title 
of pleasurable pain. Again, any and all such uses of feel- 
ing refer to an internal, subjective condition of the indi- 
vidual as opposed to the knowledge-side of sensations and 
impressions, which refer to an outer world. On seeing a 
beautiful display of roses we attribute the color to the 
flowers, but the pleasurable feeling is in us. Thus feeling 
is simply the pleasurable or painful side of any and all 
states of consciousness. 

Importance of the Feelings. Observation and analysis 
of one's own mental content will soon reveal the fact that 
everything has value in proportion as it affects the feel- 
ings. Goethe makes Werther say of his friend, " He values 



FOUNTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 49 

my understanding and talents more highly than my heart, 
but I am proud of the latter only." One of the three great- 
est advances of modern psychology is exactly and conclu- 
sively to reverse the places assigned to feeling and intellect 
by the old psychology. From the days of Plato the old psy- 
chology proclaimed the supremacy of the rational element in 
man. Modern biological psychology demonstrates that the 
intellect operates under the guidance of the feelings. Com- 
mon and universal beliefs usually have some element of 
truth, more or less dimly apprehended, and it is this 
modern, clearly revealed truth that lurks behind the uni- 
versal tendency to exalt the heart above the head. Euskin 
says, '' I am certain that in the most perfect human artists 
reason does not supersede instinct, but is added to an in- 
stinct." The feelings are fundamental, while the intellect 
is a secondary product. The chief business of the intellect 
is to devise ways and means to satisfy the deep longings 
of the human heart. The impetus to life and to great 
undertakings is not given by the intellect, but by the feel- 
ings. Strong desire, love, anger, fear, vengeance, ambition, 
inspire men with ideas. History demonstrates that the 
chief force of civilization resides in the feelings. 

When you find a man defending a given policy or line 
of conduct, look not to his logic but search diligently for 
what he feels to be his interest. In most cases the facts 
accepted or rejected, as well as his logic, are governed by it. 
I do not mean that he is necessarily a hypocrite or dis- 
honest, but deep desire makes straight for its object and 
focuses the intellect in one definite direction. Nor does 
this apply to achievements of selfish ends only. It applies 
with equal force to the moral reformer. Here, for ill-feeling 



50 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

of ^personal interest is substituted the feeling of ditty 
or obligation. As viewed in after years the shortsighted- 
ness of most moral reformers is incomprehensible to the 
historian who seeks for logical reasons. Quietly and pas- 
sively he reasons at his desk, while the doers of these deeds 
reasoned from an inner-court of feelings which circum- 
stances forever bar him from entering. So it is with indi- 
vidual conduct. In Goethe's'' Meister" one of the characters, 
Aurelia, gives the highest possible praise to her uncle's 
intellectual powers, and then says : '' With me he did not 
prosper quite so well, for here the question was about 
emotions, of which he had not a glimpse ; and, with what- 
ever tolerance and sympathy and rationality he spoke 
about my sentiments, it was palpable to me that he had 
not the slightest notion of what formed the ground of all 
of my conduct." 

Every reader may find in the depth of his own soul 
some proof of this statement. You well know that in the 
last analysis the real cause of much of your conduct and 
of your intellectual inclinations is hidden from general 
observation, and that outwardly you are misjudged, some- 
times to your great satisfaction. In the consideration of 
Apperception I hope to make clear how love, anger, hate, 
fear, jealousy, personal interest, habit, past experiences, 
political and religious sentiments, unconsciously direct 
reason and control the general trend and interpretation 
of our matured observations. From an educational stand- 
point, fire a soul with a burning desire to accomplish 
something and the chief work is done. To my young 
readers I should like to say, if you have no destined aim 
that absorbs your whole being, no ambition to achieve 



FOUNTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 51 

things in life, no desire to excel at least in some line, no 
longing to be genuinely useful in the world, then I care 
not how much money you may have, nor how much 
knowledge you may absorb, nor how many degrees you 
may buy, I cannot expect anything of consequence from you. 

Classification of Feelings and Emotions. Here I shall 
only suggest some of the different standpoints of classifica- 
tion and give at least a working basis in order that w^e may 
the better understand the different works on feeling and 
emotion. These subjects, usually presented separately, I 
present together, for the simple reason that the distinction 
between feeling and emotion is purely arbitrary and one 
of degree. Those who reserve the use of the term " feeling" 
to designate the consciousness of pleasantness and un- 
pleasantness certainly do not help matters by placing such 
mild and relatively continuous states of consciousness as 
friendship, dislike, pride, humility, and vanity under the 
emotions. We probably never experience the primary or 
fundamental emotions and feelings in their pure forms. 
The current names designate mixed, secondary, and 
complex states. 

To get back to the simple states out of which our feel- 
ings and sentiments are compounded has led to various 
efforts to analyze and classify this field of mental activity. 
Descartes specifies six primary or fundamental passions — 
desire, hatred, admiration, love, joy, and sadness. All 
others are compounded and derived from some of these 
six. From a biological basis, Drummond, Ward, and others 
would reduce them all to hunger and love; or, stating 
them in another form, mttrition and reproduction, which 



52 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

terms are used in the widest sense as synonymous with 
selfishness and altruism. These two they claim are uni- 
versal, belong to all creatures, and are not derived from 
any antecedent ones. These two are the chief sources of 
all action, and out of them all other feelings have been 
evolved. They gain rather than lose strength as they 
blend and mix with the later-evolved forms of feeling, 
so that in society selfishness and altruism become the 
principal social forces and the foundations of sociology. 
Bentham gives sixty-four English words practically used 
as synonyms for selfishness. Spencer finds love composed 
of at least a dozen strong, cooperative feelings. 

Some writers classify the emotional feelings as Altru- 
istic, Egoistic, Esthetic, Intellectual, Moral, and Eeligious. 
For practical psychological purposes this classification has 
much merit, and we shall discuss these groups of feelings 
later. Like Bain, we may adopt a classification based on 
observation of similarity and difference. Again, we may 
adopt the method of the botanist and attempt to discover 
classes, genera, species, and varieties, but I fear we shall 
be hopelessly entangled before we get far in the varieties. 
Herbart inaugurated the attempt to classify according to 
the ideas or intellectual states behind the feeling. 

One of the latest and most suggestive analyses is that 
presented by Mr. Shand, and adopted by McDougall in his 
" Social Psychology." The last mentioned gives seven pri- 
mary emotions —^ fear, disgust, wonder, anger, negative self- 
feeling, positive self-feeling, and tender emotion. These, 
plus the feeling of pleasure and pain, are compounded to 
produce all others. At the same time the sentiments are 
distinguished from the primary emotions and made the 



FOUIS^TAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 53 

chief agents in compounding the latter. Our emotions 
tend to become organized or centered about some object, 
and this organized system he calls a '' sentiment." The 
existence of such an organized system is readily shown by 
a single illustration. You have acquired the sentiment 
of love for some object ; now you are liable to experience 
tender emotions in its presence, fear or anxiety when it is 
in danger, anger when it is threatened, sorrow when it is 
lost, joy when it is restored to you, and gratitude when 
it is well treated by others. All these feelings are connected 
with a single object of love. In a similar way it can be 
shown that an object of hate may excite fear, pugnacity, 
curiosity, submission, anger, self-assertion. I believe the 
general idea here involved must be accepted as a valuable 
addition to our analysis of this subject ; but it would be a 
rather easy matter to show that no satisfactory classifica- 
tion has yet been made, and each student must accept 
that classification that serves his immediate purpose, and 
must finally learn to view the same thing from many 
different angles. 

Chief Characteristics of Feeling. 1. Pleasure and 2^ain 
are characteristic qualities to which we must give great 
importance. They are signals of welfare and danger. To 
gain the one and avoid the other are constant motives of 
action. Nearly every morning my boy of six leaves his 
bed and rushes to the window to see the beautiful eastern 
sky. The feeling is cestlietic and the quality is pleasure- 
ahle. Later he is angry because his stock show has suf- 
fered some disarrangement during his sleep. The feeling 
is egoistic and painful. The pleasurable feelings we strive 



54 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

to continue and increase ; the painful we would avoid or 
diminish. All affective states of consciousness have one 
or the other of these two qualities. 

Some writers maintain a third quality — a neutral state 
in which there is neither pleasure nor pain. It occurs to 
me that this dispute originates from two sources. First, 
we confuse mathematical abstractions with psychology. I 
am now cold, the room is gradually heated, and ere long 
I say I am warm. From mathematical calculations I must 
have passed through a point where I was neither hot nor 
cold — a condition neither pleasurable nor painful, neither 
agreeable nor disagreeable. Perhaps I did pass through 
such a state and had no feeling about it. In that event 
there is no sense in calling it a neutral feeling. The main 
source of misunderstanding is found in the fact that all 
feelings and emotions involve consciousness of a mul- 
titude of sensations of the outside world by which con- 
sciousness tends to be turned away from the individual 
subjective condition. In proportion as the intensity of 
feeling is low, the knoiving phase of eonscioitsness becomes 
dominant and the feeling side drops into the hachgroiind 
of consciousness, if not entirely out. But it is folly to talk 
about a possible or mathematical pleasure or pain ivhich 
is not in consciousness. Pleasure and pain have no exist- 
ence outside of consciousness. 

While I write I hear on one side of me ar;i]^n's voice. 
I cannot say it is either pleasurable or painful. My con- 
sciousness, so far as it takes any account of it, notes it as 
an objective fact. At the same time with my left liand I 
am feeling the table cover. Of this act I am occasionally 
conscious, not as pleasure or pain but as an objective 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 55 

fact of sensation. From the room on my right occasionally 
comes the sound of loud laughter. Immediately my con- 
sciousness is directed to my subjective condition and the 
feeling is painful. Observe the effect of the recently dis- 
covered anaesthetic — stovaine. It is injected into the 
patient; the subjective condition is excluded from con- 
sciousness, while he may sit up and have objective knowl- 
edge of what is going on. Hence, if we mean that all 
knowledge has either a pleasurable or painful phase, we 
certainly could not maintain it on the testimony of con- 
sciousness. Now the wind is blowing. Just at what point 
it will become intense enough to focus consciousness on 
the subjective condition there is no way of ascertaining, 
but when it does I shall probably have a disagreeable feel- 
ing. This is all that need be said on the subject in a book 
so limited in its scope. 

a. The apparent transition of pleasure into pain is 
a fact of common observation. If sufficiently prolonged, 
pleasurable states of mind are supplanted by painful ones. 
In common language we speak of pleasure becoming pain. 
We should say that pleasure is succeeded or followed by 
pain. My present comfortable position, a glorious sunset, 
a pleasing violin solo, the joyous dance, the victor's rejoic- 
ing, the satisfaction of hunger and thirst, the delights of 
wit and humor, the pleasures of intellectual speculation, 
joy over success, these and many more are all pleasurable 
conditions of mind, which, if greatly prolonged, will be 
followed by painful states. 

At first thought it would appear that the reverse prop- 
osition should be equally true, but it is not. It is only 
in a few abnormally emotional persons that prolonged 



56 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

acute pain gives way to j)leasure. In some cases pleasure, 
due to other associated ideas and feelings, may develop. 
This condition is especially manifest in those who rejoice 
in persecution even unto death. Many have declared that 
their severest physical torture was the happiest moment 
of their lives. Bruno is imprisoned for many years ; 
finally he is bound to the stake, surrounded by the multi- 
tude of scoffers and onlookers ; his priestly accusers wish 
some excuse to let him go, and when they ask him if 
he has anything to say, with scorn for them and rejoic- 
ing in his persecution, he replies, '' I foresee that you 
dread this more than I do." But, as already stated, such 
are not parallel cases to those given under transitions 
of pleasure. 

There are, however, two things that must be noted. First, 
pleasure is often greatly intensified by contrast with 
previous pain. Again, by force of habit, by association of 
ideas, and, in many cases, by the developing of a sentiment, 
many painful physical and mental activities, and even 
the so-called painful performance of duties, may become 
genuine pleasures. Such transitions take place in physical 
taste and in the aesthetic feelings. Certain foods and forms 
of dress that at first we can hardly tolerate may later 
become pleasing. Moreover, daily disagreeable tasks come 
to be agreeable by force of some one or all three of the 
factors mentioned. In a similar manner many forced intel- 
lectual pursuits not only lose their painful aspect, but 
pleasure accompanies them. These differ from the cases 
under " pleasure " in not being tlie result of any single, 
continued performance. The cause of the cases where 
pleasure gives place to pain is found chiefly in fatigue, 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 57 

while in the cases where pain seems to pass into pleasure 
it is chiefly hahit, association of ideas, and the gradual 
development of sentiments. 

b. Fleasurable pain — a psychological paradox. In 
order to avoid confusion it seems desirable to say a few 
words on this strange subject while treating of the quali- 
ties of feeling. When Dickens, in describing the death of 
Little Nell, says, "The sorrow for the dead is the only 
sorrow from which we do not wish to be divorced," his 
psychology is very misleading. There is not only one sor- 
row, but there are many from which we do not wish to 
be divorced.. Spencer treated this subject as one involv- 
ing great mystery. Such strange psychological conditions 
include many physical, aesthetic, intellectual, and moral 
states. In these peculiar states the individual is pleased 
with his own suffering. It is no new development or dis- 
covery. All peoples and all ages have furnished examples 
of it. We find it distinctly manifested in the literature of 
India. Speaking of the ancient Persian poem by Omar 
Khayyam, Dr. Jordan, in his little book, " Philosophy of 
Despair," says : " It is the sweetness of philosophical sor- 
row which has no kinship with misery or distress. In the 
strains of the saddest music the soul finds the keenest 
delight. The same sweet, sorrowful pleasure is felt in the 
play of the mind about the riddles which it cannot solve." 
Who has not felt this sweet sadness in some form ? Homer 
represents a man "rejoicing in his tears"; and the Bible 
contains many such references. Eibot gives several cases 
of taking pleasure in physical pain. A man may willfully 
torture his own body until he sheds tears. The days of 
asceticism will furnish many examples, but in asceticism 



58 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

there was usually mingled some ulterior motive. For 
pleasure in moral pain James's chapter on the Sin-Sick 
Soul is supreme. " The normal process of life," says he, 
" contains moments as bad as any of those with which 
insane melancholy is filled. . . . The lunatic's visions of hor- 
ror are all drawn from the material of daily fact. ... If you 
protest, my friend, wait until you arrive there yourself." 
We may mention also the pleasure which is often taken in 
bloody spectacles and cruel torture. In contrast with this 
there are many people to whom constant fear is a daily 
enjoyment. 

But the best examples for the student are those of 
daily occurrence under the head of common despondency 
or melancholy, which may be seen any day in the lover, 
artist, poet, musician, homesick student, and in the general 
restlessness and despondency of the indefinite adolescent 
feelings. As a rule these people do not want to be relieved 
of their suffering. Instead of accepting relief they do that 
which feeds the feeling. I once knew a professor who, after 
seven years of suffering from the loss of his wife, refused 
all offers to change some of the old, worn-out furniture for 
new or to have his room papered. It must be left exactly 
as it was when she died. The picture of her grave was 
hung where he could see it every morning on waking. Yet 
he was a sane man. 

Did you ever try to console a melancholy lover or a 
homesick person, and ten minutes later find the individual 
reading something like'' The Sorrows of Werther," or play- 
ing " Home Sweet Home " ? This is what Spencer calls 
the luxury of grief, and it seems to grow with civilization. 
The three possible explanations offered by different writers 



rou:N^TAixs of huma:n' conduct 59 

for these phenomeua are so speculative that we have no 
space for them. But that there is such a thing as siveet 
sadness, and that sorroiU'Cliarmed souls exist, are not 
matters of speculation. 

c. Physical basis of pleasure and pain. A few words 
must be said on the physical aspects of pleasure and pain. 
In our body as a whole and in any and all of its parts 
there are ever present two processes, a katabolic and an 
anabolic — a tearing down and a building up, a destruction 
and a reconstruction. According to Eibot and others the 
degree of dominance of one of these processes over the 
other in the whole organism or in any part thereof deter- 
mines the degree of pain or pleasure experienced. Eibot 
says : " In most cases, if not in all, two contrary processes 
are going on simultaneously — one of increase, the other 
of diminution; what comes into consciousness is only the 
result of a difference^' — a difference between receipt and 
expenditure. That the nervous system is a storehouse for 
energy we know, and, when well filled, pleasure comes 
from a normal expenditure of it. With a surplus of energy 
the dance or any athletic activity is pleasurable, but if it 
be carried to where the waste exceeds the repair, fatigue 
and pain result. The same thing occurs in mental activity. 
If I continue writing for hours, the tearing-down process 
will exceed the building-up process in my arm, and writ- 
ing becomes painful. If mental activity be greatly pro- 
longed, the same condition will exist in my brain. But all 
normal exercise helps the nervous system to store up 
energy for future use. Any dissipation that squanders 
energy faster than it is generated draws on the reserve and 
must soon result in pain. Also constant anxiety, worry, 



60 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

fear, and grief consume nervous energy rapidly and may 
finally send their victim to the insane asylum. All forms 
of activity are accompanied by some waste, and there must 
be periods of restoration. There is a very suggestive book 
entitled " Worry, the Disease of the Age." 

On the psychological basis of pleasure and pain as states 
of consciousness, it would be impossible to maintain Eibot's 
thesis without several very important exceptions. There 
are many painless diseases that gradually consume all of 
one's energy without causing pain save when exertion is 
undertaken. Again, as I shall show in another chapter, it 
is astonishing how far suggestion may control, augment, or 
diminish pain. 

2. Difference in intensity is a specifi^c characteristic of 
feeling and einotion. That feelings and emotions vary in 
intensity and duration needs no argument or examples 
for any reader. But why do they thus vary ? Not only will 
toothache, anger, love, and sorrow vary in intensity, as 
your experience proves, but some people attempt a quan- 
titative comparison of these feelings with each other. This 
is evidenced by all efforts to estimate the relative amounts 
of pleasure and pain we suffer in life. To some, life is 
not worth living because the pain seems quantitatively 
to exceed the pleasures of life. Again, the same stimuli 
produce widely different effects at different ages. It is also 
true that the same intensity of stimuli produces widely 
different intensity of feeling for different individuals, but 
we have no exact means of measuring such, psychic intensity. 
Can we find any of the factors producing these variations ? 

a. The organization of our nervous system which hered- 
ity donates to us has much to do with the intensity of 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 61 

feeling and emotion. Whether we attempt to hold the ol9 
division of four kinds of temperament — phlegmatic, 
melancholic, choleric, and sanguine — or not, we must freely 
admit that all are not born into the world with the same 
characteristic temperament ; and, all things else being 
equal, this difference in inherited nervous systems will 
produce corresponding variations throughout life. 

h. It is also true that, through disease or shocks, the 
nervous system may receive striking modifications that 
ever after help to determine the intensity and prolonga- 
tion of feelings. 

c. The nature, strength, and development of the instincts 
to which the stimuli appeal, are powerful elements in de- 
termining this variation. The instincts are the background 
of all emotions. All things else being equal, the sight of 
a starving child will not produce the same effect on a man, 
on an unmarried woman, and on a mother. Not only that, 
but the same sight will produce quite a different intensity 
of feeling in the same woman, in proportion as the mother 
instinct is developed. 

d. The intensity and prolongation of all feelings, and 
especially all bodily feelings, are greatly affected by 
the strength and continuation of the stimuh. When 
these reach a certain degree the sensibility to response 
is decreased. 

e. Habit is also present in all our emotional reactions. 
We may acquire the habit of shedding tears or becoming 
angry at the slightest stimulus. 

/. Also the presence or absence of counteracting feel- 
ings varies the intensity. This is one of the effects of a 
well-educated and cultuTed feeling4ife. 



62 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

g. Associated ideas and mental images vary the in- 
tensity and prolong emotions, apparently without limit. 
In this manner even physical pains and pleasures are in 
a marked degree modified. The thought that grippe is 
keeping me from my work adds to the intensity of my 
suffering, and the mental image of lying sick for three 
weeks reenforces it. The effect of images on our feelings is 
wonderful. We may know from careful statistics that five 
thousand fishermen are yearly lost on the high seas, that 
one thousand employees are annually killed on the rail- 
road ; but the effect on our emotional life is zero as com- 
pared with that produced by the statement that a steamer, 
after gradually filling up with water, and many jumping 
overboard, sunk with all of its tivelvc Inindred passengers, 
or that three hundred miners are hopelessly entombed in 
the earth. As we shall see later, the d}Tiamic power of 
social reform is not essentially found in reason, but in the 
feeling evoked by the mental images the leaders may 
skillfully paint. 

3. Feelings are referred either to the so id or to bodily 
conditions. The third characteristic of feeling need not 
detain us long. Judged from our own consciousness, 
feelings attach themselves either to changing bodily 
conditions or to ideas. In a limited elementary work 
it is not desirable to go into the physiological theories 
of emotion, such as the James-Lange Theory and that of 
the opposing school. For two reasons it is well to state 
James's theory, which has caused so much comment since 
its first presentation. Briefly stated it is, that the feel- 
ing side of the emotions is simply eonscioitsncss of the 
bodily disturbances. 



TOUiSTTAIlSrS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 63 

The feelings we call love, anger, fear, sorrow, are simply 
the consciousness of indefinite, unlocalizable, bodily dis- 
turbances. This includes not simply the visible dis- 
turbances, as the careless reader might infer from such 
statements as, '' we are sorry because we cry," and we are 
''afraid because we run"; it includes every possible disturb- 
ance of circulation, respiration, digestive functions, every 
change of tissue, and every muscle affected. These cooperate 
to give the sum total of consciousness designated as such 
and such a feeling. It is now a scientific fact that different 
colors and sounds produce even in dogs a marked change 
in circulation, respiration, and other bodily functions. 

Every stimulus applied to the nervous system tends to 
diffuse its effects to every part of the organism. Every 
strong stimulus inevitably does so. On being startled, the 
circulation and respiration are disturbed. Fear, shame, 
and anger change the blood supply to the skin. Haller 
found that the beat of a drum caused the blood to flow 
faster from an open vein ; and Masso demonstrated that 
different sensations cause a change of the circulation in 
the brain. Certain stimuli cause all the muscles to become 
tense. These and thousands of other bodily changes can- 
not take place without producing fundamental . changes in 
the states of consciousness. Will these changes account 
for the whole of emotional feelings ? James says they will. 

I have stated this theory for two reasons. In the first 
place any student of the subject must detect a large ele- 
ment of truth in it, even if he fails to give it an unlimited 
application. I have had a good dinner. I have a feeling 
of satisfaction. I do not locate it in the stomach or in 
any part of the body, }'et I well know it is due to a bodily 



64 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

condition. Subtract from any one of the conscious states 
called anger, fear, jealousy, hatred, love, sorrow, or joy, 
even the bodily sensations you are readily able to detect, 
and you will see at once that you have greatly reduced the 
emotion. Again, this suggestion does help to account for 
the great complexity and variability of feelings, hecaiise the 
bodily conditions are capable of an indefinite number of 
combinations and variations. Here I leave the reader to 
extend the inquiry and make other applications. 

Feeling and Literature. In another chapter I shall call 
attention to psychology in literature, but here I wish the 
student to see the practical value of this subject as it 
affects his study of literature. Literature is an effort to 
portray in a vivid form the feelings we have been consider- 
ing. It is only by catching these feelings in the strongest 
manifestations that we can recognize their wonderfully 
compound nature. You may not call it psychology and you 
may not get it from a book so labeled, but some psychology 
of the emotions you must have for a keen appreciation and 
study of literature. Let me offer just a few general sug- 
gestions, which make no pretense of being absolutely cor- 
rect, as to some of these elements in literature. 

All writers must present some one or more characters 
for admiration. What a complex feeling 1 What is neces- 
sary to awaken in you this feeling ? Certainly wonder and 
the feeling of submission and of self-abasement are present. 
But this is not all ; the impulse of curiosity is there, and 
the negative self-feeling, as being in the presence of a supe- 
rior, is manifested, but the latter in turn is essentially re- 
lated to the social feelings. Since admiration requires 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 65 

humility and generosity, the conceited person is iu a meas- 
ure incapable of admiration. Admiration mingled with fear 
is soon transformed into awe. Awe becomes compounded 
with gratitude and we have reverence. But gratitude is it- 
self a compound of at least two or three other feelings. 

So we might examine envy, jealousy, love, shame, joy, 
pity, demonstrating their complexity. I hear the reader 
say, " Well, what of it ? Of what good is it to know this ? " 
For one thing it will help us to correct our absurd judg- 
ments of human acts, and learn that when men assert a 
single motive for their conduct it is not true. Either con- 
sciously or unconsciously they are wrong. In the whole 
interpretation of human life there exists no greater error 
than this. I may tell you I am going to the South Sea Islands 
as a missionary, purely from a sense of duty. But later 
you learn of my lifelong desire to cross the water and to 
travel in foreign lands ; of my strong curiosity-tempera- 
ment ; that I am to receive a good salary ; that I am to 
control other men in which my soul takes great delight ; 
and that I am fond of lecturing as a means of securing the 
admiration of my fellow men. May not all of these be 
parts of my pure sense of duty ? I may also be honest or 
dishonest in part or in all. But whether we are aware of 
it or noty conduct rarely ever proceeds from a single motive. 
Human conduct is rarely ever purely good or purely bad. 
The young bank cashier who supports a spendthrift wife 
and mother-in-law may finally rob the bank, not as a pure 
thief, but from a combination of the forces of love, fear, 
pride, humility, ambition, desire for gain, etc. It is the 
business of literature to portray these combinations and 
antagonistic feelings that constitute life and conduct. 



66 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Hundreds of pieces of literature could be named in 
which just this kind of psychology constitutes the pri- 
mary interest and the sublime climax. The teacher of 
literature must know this great web of emotional life. She 
may name it psychology or what she pleases, only she must 
know it, and ever utilize the great moral power of these 
feelings to the limit. In literature knowledge for the sake 
of knowledge is a sin against the developing soul, and 
should be reserved for the word-made soul that no longer 
has an emotional life to corrupt. 

Shakespeare and Ibsen everywhere abound in this keen 
analysis of compounded and conflicting emotions. '' Mac- 
beth," '' Hamlet," and other plays rise mountain high in 
this entanglement of feelings and emotions. In '' Brand " 
the great tragedy consists in trying to force one emotion, 
or rather sentiment in the form of an ideal, in spite of all 
other conflicting feelings, upon all other men and women. 
In Shakespeare's " Coriolanus " what appears about to be- 
come the highest elevation of the hero is converted into 
his overwhelming downfall by the gradual growth of his 
unconquerable pride. True literature consists of the lueb 
of the emotional life set in artistic form. Trite study of 
literature is inner realization of these relations, combina- 
tions, and warring combats. 

The Sentiments. A group of feelings centered about 
some object or person may be designated as a sentiment. 
Such a designation must be taken only in the most general 
way. I do not attempt to draw any sharp line between 
feeling, emotion, and sentiment. They are inseparable 
parts of one great phase of mental life. Among those who 



rou:N^TAixs or human coxduct 6T 

have treated the sentiments there is no agreement. Spencer 
says : " Nothing more is possible than the arrangement 
of them into groups that graduate one into another, but 
yet as wholes are broadly distinguishable. Bearing in mind 
this qualification, the word '' sentiments/' as used in this 
and succeeding chapters, must be taken to comprehend 
those highest orders of feelings w^hich are entirely re-repre- 
sentative." He then treats of egoistic, ego-altruistic, altru- 
istic, and aesthetic sentiments. Eibot calls attention only 
to religious, aesthetic, and intellectual sentiments, » while 
McDougall places such feelings as love, surprise, sorrow, 
joy, and others under the sentiments. 

There are, however, certain sentiments quite distinguish- 
able from the more fundamental feelings. The two great 
factors in the development of a feeling into a sentiment 
are hahit and the association of ideas or transferred feel- 
ings. The sentiments are the chief storehouse of all social 
force and the chief basis of valuation. Not long ago I 
observed a neat httle church rising on lots adjoining an 
old dilapidated church. The contrast was unpleasant ; yet 
the people who had attended church there so long, cheer- 
fully sacrificed much to buy a new site and preserve with 
care this unsightly dilapidated building. This is sentiment, 
or a group of feelings and their associated ideas, centered 
about an object. You can think of a thousand similar cases. 
The flag of a man's country becomes the object of a group 
of feelings and sentiments capable of exciting many min- 
gled and different emotions. What mingled sentiments 
arise as one stands on the battlefield of Waterloo ! Yet 
one sees only pasture fields and a high mound of dirt. 
We transfer many feelings and sentiments to this object. 



68 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

For thousands of years we have been creating sentiments 
about individuals, art, literature, and religion, and these 
sentiments so completely dominate our judgments that 
absolute truth becomes a psychological impossibility. As 
a general rule the probability of getting the truth decreases 
as age and sentiment increase. Some of us believe that we 
are now far from knowing what Shakespeare intended to 
say ; but, if the Shakespeare sentiment grows for a thou- 
sand years, what shall we say then ? Our protection and 
redemption, or substitute for truth, lie in the psychological 
fact that such sentiments always tend toward the idealis- 
tic. In so far as ideals are more valuable and powerful 
than the realistic, just in so far are these sentiments above 
the truth. These historical poems and books of comment 
about the great past are largely horn of our ideals and 
sentiments projected into tlie future. If efficacy be the stand- 
ard, they will ever remain far above the scientific truth. 

But, again, fhe warning that the hest things in the world 
may also he the^ worst must he sounded. The manner in 
which sentiments of the kind above mentioned stand in 
the way of progress is so evident as to need no comment. 
I shall make no effort to differentiate or classify the sen- 
timents. I only desire to call attention to this application 
of the sentiments, usually omitted by the psychologists. 
All through this chapter the chief aim has been to show 
how feeling is one of the great fountains of human conduct, 
which pours its waters into the great stream of life. If I 
have given you even a glimpse of its fundamental impor- 
tance, and shown how we cannot properly interpret any 
of the other mental powers without its consideration, my 
end is accomplished. It is an attitude of mind we need. 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 69 

Education of the Emotions. It is hardly proper to close 
such a vital chapter as this without saying a few direct 
words about the greatest problem in all education — man- 
aging the feelings. Any education that kills feeling kills 
life. At least such historic efforts are on record ; and ever 
since the day that Plato exalted intellect and compared 
feeling to the sensuous wild horse that ever pulls down- 
ward, and compared will to the driver, we have had psy- 
chologists and educators who have directed their efforts 
to slay feeling or at least to let it die of atrophy. Feelings 
may be regulated, educated, and refined to some extent, 
but when they are destroyed you have an extinct volcano 
on your hands. No amount of intellect can say, '' You ought 
to have sympathy, to love your neighbor, to give to the 
poor, to appreciate a beautiful sunset, to pity the unfortu- 
nate, to love God," and thereby create the power that does 
such things. The immediate antecedent of right conduct is 
either right feeling or correct habit. 

Habit is fundamental in the education of the feelings, 
not habit that results from intentional repetition, but rather 
habit that unconsciously results from environment and 
conditions. Imagine a man who, Eobinson Crusoe-like, 
has always lived alone on an island. I might offer him a 
reward to form the habit of eating once a day, of rising at 
four o'clock in the morning, and a multitude of other sim- 
ilar things ; and by intentional repetition he may succeed. 
But how shall he proceed to form the habit of sympathy ? 
This may appear extreme, but it illustrates the need of 
environment. Much of the psychological and moral advice 
about setting yourself the task of doing certain things to 
develop certain emotional habits is mostly speculative 



70 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

waste, because few there are who ever attempt such a 
thing. Those who only fed are sometimes contrasted with 
those who act, as if those who act do not also feci. 

1. A practical educational division of the emotions. 
The classification of emotions as Egoistic, Altruistic, Es- 
thetic, Intellectual, Religious, and Moral has already been 
mentioned. For educational purposes and to give some 
degree of definiteness to our efforts there is no more prac- 
tical classification than this. But we must expect only 
practical and partial, not ahsohcte, distinctions. An un- 
mixed moral emotion is hard to find, but one in which 
the moral element predominates is not. Again, it is the 
intense form of these emotions that is most easily recog- 
nized and analyzed. 

a. Education of the selfish or egoistic emotions. Such 
a topic will appeal to many as almost ridiculous. Do we 
need to educate selfishness ? Is it not, as Buddha said, 
the source of all evil? Has it not already ruined the 
world ? Are not men, as some pessimists say, wholly 
selfish, and all self-sacrifice only a cloak and a pre- 
tense ? Enlightened feeling directed toioard healthy ac- 
tion is everywhere the fundamental aim of education. 
Under egoistic must be included all emotions that directly 
or indirectly affect individual welfare. It is likewise not 
difficult to see that self-preservation is the fundamental 
condition of all other functions. Without health and energy, 
industrial, parental, social, and moral functioning is for- 
ever impaired or impossible. How fortunate that nature 
provides for self-preservation chiefly through instincts and 
these egoistic emotions rather tlian leave it to the blunders 
of men ! Yet there is an education given to these selfish 



fountai:n^s of human conduct 71 

emotions, chiefly, as already indicated, by unconscious 
habit formation^ which may greatly hinder or improve the 
efficiency of the individual. Fear, anger, jealousy, pride, 
positive self-feeling, desire for approbation, for superiority, 
for power, and the thirst for ambition we would not destroy 
if we could. On the contrary, a wholesome environment 
may give these such a development as is very necessary 
for the other functions of life. Scientific works on educa- 
tion will give the detailed ways and means. 

6. Altruistic and moral emotions. Here we deal with 
a group of feelings presumably the direct opposite of the 
ones above mentioned, but by no means so clearly defined. 
They include all feehngs whose end is in any way the 
w^elfare of others. Drummond calls altruism " otherism." 
Altruism is an extension of the general use of the word 
" love " or "self-sacrifice" to include not only the conscious 
giving up of self, but also any unconscious self-surrender to 
further the welfare of others. The mother's love for her 
child is always designated as the purest example. The 
complex sympathetic emotion is perhaps its most general 
form. We cannot believe that selfishness and fear alone 
hold society together. The social and sympathetic feelings 
make possible any ethical basis of life. They are behind 
every moral feeling of ought. How necessary is the ful- 
fillment of the command, "Eejoice with them that do 
rejoice, and weep with them that weep." This is sympathy. 

Let us suggest some of the chief factors in the education 
of these emotions : 

The environment is all-important. The child's love for 
God must find its fountain source in the love for its mother. 
When will w^e learn that emotions are not inaugurated by 



72 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

command or by popular suffrage ? How cruel is our treat- 
ment of some children and often of adults, all because they 
do not have the qualities we think they ought to have. 
On what ground do you demand or expect sympathy from 
an individual that has never known any ? 

Shut off from the world, one cannot grow in sympathetic 
emotion. With a little material the imagination may go a 
long way, but it has its limitations. The sympathizer must 
observe, if not experience, sickness, disappointments, hap- 
piness, joy, misery, poverty, ignorance, and suffering of a 
thousand forms from this powerful hand of nature. At 
what age such observations shall begin and to what extent 
they shall be carried, pedagogical sense and the nature of 
the child must determine. 

After observation comes good literature as a ineans of 
educating the altruistic life. But past experiences and the 
imagination are the only means by which a child can get 
anything out of literature. 

The nohle lives of self-sacrificing men and women exercise 
a powerful influence in awakening and developing similar 
emotions in children. 

Finally, we must not forget the power of suitable music. 
You may sing a dozen emotions into an individual while 
you are vainly trying to argue one into him. Emotions 
are propagated chiefly by contagion, and music is one 
of the best-known agents for such propagation. Music is 
the deepest, oldest, and most universal language of the 
heart. The heart is a musical instrument whose many 
strings are the emotions of life. Music of the proper kind 
at the proper time is the most powerful known agent for 
the development and refinement of the emotions. Now that 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 73 

we have learned that proper morals depend upon the fml- 
ing-life, how imperative that we substitute for the formal 
rehearsal of music the soul and life-giving elements of 
music 1 Instead of music teachers standing around listen- 
ing to see how well the children strike the high or low 
notes, they had better be looking for what fires have been 
kindled within the soul. 

I cannot refrain from quoting from that recent masterful 
treatment of the educational value of music, by Dr. Hall : 
" The prime end of musical education in the grades is to 
train the sentiments ; to make children feel nature, reli- 
gion, country, home, duty, and all the rest ; to guarantee 
sanity of heart out of which are the issues of life. To this, 
technic and everything else should be subordinated. . . . 
Much school music is now chosen merely with reference 
to some scheme of pedagogic, systematic progression. 
Much method here is a sin against the holy ghost of 
music itself. Every tune introduced should have a moral 
and aesthetic justification. . . . We persistently and with 
stupidity ineffable assume that musical education is all 
in performance. . . . Now this is just as absurd as it 
would be to estimate the child's literary knowledge by 
what it can actually read itself. Over against all this lies 
the far wider domain of musical appreciation. Children 
should, in fact, hear vastly more music than they sing 
or play; and this should be a prominent, if not a pre- 
dominant, part of their musical training. They must 
listen and be taught how to do so by abundant experi- 
ence and practice." 

Under the influence of music the soul is inspired to 
dream dreams and see visions of a vastly larger life than 



74 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

ever illumines our pathway at any other times. "We 
glimpse the abysses of woe and the shining pinnacles of 
every joy." 

c. JEsthetic education. A few facts about aesthetic emo- 
tion must suffice. Its probable origin and evolution we 
must omit. It is manifested in all peoples, in all tribes, 
among the savages, even in animals, and is found in all 
countries and in all ages. In nations of sesthetic repute it 
has only taken another form of development. The expres- 
sive side is symbolic ; that is, it represents some feeling or 
state of mind. Esthetic emotion is therefore as unlimited 
in its scope as the feelings and ideas of man. It also em- 
ploys the idealizing power of the imagination. Artistic 
enjoyment differs primarily from all other emotions in that 
its end is individual, immediate pleasure. A beautiful sun- 
set, as an aesthetic emotion, belongs to me and to that 
immediate moment. It is not for others, neither is it aimed 
at my self-preservation unless quite indirectly my pleasur- 
able frame of mind contributes to my physical health. 

Elements of cesthetic enjoyment. Esthetic enjoyment 
as we find it in ourselves will usually be found to contain 
three elements. A beautiful sunset contains (1) a pleas- 
ing sensnons element which results from a stimulus of 
strong or effectively blended colors ; (2) for the artist, and, 
in a degree, for all who know some of the laws of light, 
physics, etc., there is present an intellectual element. The 
uneducated find little real aesthetic beauty in our great art 
galleries. There is, at least, some aesthetic value in the 
ability to see proportion, symmetry, and itnity in variety. 
Again, cultivated attention is essential to the appreciation 
of all the finer distinctions in art. (3) If this impression 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 76 

be associated in memory with a sunset, seen in childhood 
or at sea, there will be introduced the associative element, 
always present in such a high degree in all religious and 
artistic enjoyment. It is this that gives the Madonnas such 
a preponderating effect over other works of art. The clothes 
worn by foreign peoples appeal to us as ugly, and, in many 
cases, ridiculous ; yet those who wear them come to con- 
sider them as beautiful — time and the association of other 
ideas are the only agents needed to produce this change. 
Those who succeed in overcoming their fear of snakes 
tell us that snakes are really beautiful. The variety of 
sesthetic tastes, the impossibility of any one standard, and 
also the power of the associative element in music and 
literature will be considered in the section on Psychology 
in Art. 

Esthetic education should begin early. The general prin- 
ciples suggested under altruistic education will apply here. 
Few people realize the necessity for early development of 
an appreciation of the beautiful. I have just returned from 
a school filled with neglected children ranging in age 
from twelve to fourteen years. They care little or nothing 
for the appearance of their faces and hair. Conditions 
that would be perfectly satisfactory to them would be a 
shock to thousands of children even much younger, but 
surrounded by different environment. These children are 
intelligent, and you may readily develop that side of 
their nature ; but do not dream that you have the same 
chance to develop their emotional life. Habit and con- 
ditions have set their mark on these children. Besides 
this we now know that children have a period in their 
development when poetry, music, art, etc. make their 



76 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

strongest appeal to them, and when it is easiest to make 
a lasting impression. Such periods we call nascent stages. 
It is conceivable that a natural-born musician like Mozart, 
if deprived of the privilege of hearing music until the age 
of ten or twelve, might ever afterwards have only a common 
interest in this art. Early cesthetic education is imperative. 
When habits and tastes are already formed, simply to say 
that you may will to enjoy or not to enjoy, to be happy 
or unhappy, is sheer stupidity. 

Esthetic enjoyment mnst he inner and genuine. What 
intellectual state could be more miserable than that found 
in those poverty-stricken, abortive souls who daily try to 
pose as lovers of music, art, literature, and science with- 
out a single idea or feeling of their own ! They run to 
everything that comes along and generally read all the 
comments of the press, but all the while the carrying-out 
of the pretense becomes more and more difficult. If the 
fashionable world were only as honest as that humble 
Darwin, there would be thousands of confessions reveal- 
ing souls more barren, so far as music, poetry, and art are 
concerned, than his soul ever was ; and we would no longer 
display our poor psychology by citing his confession. Chil- 
dren must not have their aesthetic ideas imposed on them 
from without. To develop in children, directly or in- 
directly, the tendency to rely on some one else and to quote 
some one else as an authority as to what is beautiful or 
otherwise, is erroneous and antipedagogical. We should 
always be able to make a chjldifeel what we say and let liim 
be true to his feelings even if they chance to differ from ours. 

d. The culture of the intellectual emotions. All intel- 
lectual activity is accompanied by feeling in some degree. 



rou:N'TAms of humak co:^^duct 77 

Often it may be so intense as to become a powerful emo- 
tion. Intellectual curiosity and a deep thirst for knowledge 
often dominate every other tendency of life. These forces 
dominated Socrates, and he was so able to impart this 
spirit to others that Alcibiades says : '' My tears are poured 
out as he talks. Often and often have I wished that he 
were no longer to be seen among men. But if that were 
to happen, I well know that I should suffer far greater 
pain ; so that where I can turn, or what I can do with 
this man, I know not. All this have I and many others 
suffered from the pipings of this Satyr." Curiosity is the 
bud of intellect, and it should always be encouraged. All 
teaching that destroys it is fatal. 

Great truths partly revealed and partly concealed should 
ever stare the youth in the face. Finality in teachers and 
textbooks is the worst enemy of intellectual develop- 
ment now in use in our educational systems. Something 
on which a trained imagination can work is a powerful 
factor in intellectual emotion. No greater calamity could 
befall the human race than the final solution of all our 
problems. But fortunately such a state of mind comes 
only to the ignorant, who think they know all things. A 
sense of the ridiculous, of the ludicrous, of wit, of humor, 
should be cultivated. 

Finally, there is a serenity of soul that comes from in- 
tellectual poise. We read it in men whose wide knowl- 
edge enables them to look calmly on at the social, ethical, 
and religious struggles, knowing in some degree the out- 
come. Our goal is enlightened feeling directed to healthy , 
sane action. 



CHAPTEE IV 

FOUNTAmS OF HUMAN CO:^^rDUCT (Continued) 

VI. Appeeception 

As a spring of human life which exerts a great modify- 
ing influence on all other mental processes and upon 
human conduct, few can be given a more important place 
than what should properly be included in the term '' apper- 
ception." One inevitable conclusion of the very topic we 
are considering is that we should not introduce new sub- 
jects by words foreign to the student ; especially is this 
true should the words have a variable meaning in scien- 
tific circles. Apperception is one of these words ; but owing 
to its importance in this connection, to its wide use in 
education, and to my inability to separate its essential 
element — interest — from its minor qualities, I justify its 
use here. Many writers treat the subject in connection 
with other topics only. It is also quite customary to treat 
all these springs of life after perception, attention, associ- 
ation of ideas, memory, imagination, and reason have been 
considered. But the chief object of these six fountains of 
conduct is to show how such processes cannot be prop- 
erly comprehended without some previous comprehen- 
sion of these springs of life. Witmer has a similar idea 
when he presents apperception as the first chapter in 
his '' Analytical Psychology." 

78 



FOUXTAmS OF HUMAX CONDUCT 79 

Examples of Apperception. With the theories and dif- 
ferent applications of this word it is not wise to deal. 
Let everyday examples develop in the mind of the reader 
a practical definition suitable to this elementary work. I 
once saw a little girl of two and a half years patting a 
large fur cape thrown across the shoulders of a lady in 
front of the child, and at every stroke the child said 
'' doggie." Experiences with a large black dog had so 
completely taken possession of the child's mental con- 
sciousness in the past as to cause all other qualities 
present in the sense impression to be ignored. A number 
of children seeing for the first time a zoological garden or 
a circus will each name the animals according to his past 
experiences ; and, as far as they can be made to fit, accord- 
ing to liis chief interest. The tiger will be saluted as '' kitty," 
and others in a similar fashion. Observe a number of chil- 
dren endeavoring to interpret the " funny page " in the Sun- 
day newspaper. The mind is very early directed to the 
meaning aspect of all impressions. This is not done by 
conscious comparison, but is forced on by a content of the 
mind that does not wait for comparison such as a scientist 
uses in classification. The child is in the main uncon- 
scious of the past feelings and ideas that noio direct his 
attention to this or that point. The statement made by 
one writer that association and thought are only disguised 
apperception is too wide a use of the word ; but appercep- 
tion is largely the power heliind these processes. 

Any teacher can daily discover dozens of similar cases 
in children. But apperception is not confined to the sense 
perceptions of children. Experience does not tend to cor- 
rect these false impressions of the external world, but only 



80 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

to intensify them in other directions. To illustrate apper- 
ception the Germans use a fine story, the essence of which 
is duplicated a thousand times a day in every city. A boy 
conceals himself in a forest to watch the passers-by. Soon 
one man says to his companion, ''What a fine stick of 
timber," and the boy says, " Good morning, Mr. Carpenter." 
Another comments on the size of the bark, and the boy 
says, '' Good morning, Mr. Tanner." Soon another declares 
the land good for wheat, and the boy says, '' Good morning, 
Mr. Farmer." Still another thinks it a good place for squir- 
rels, and the boy says, " Good morning, Mr. Hunter." The 
same thing is before the eyes of these men, but their deep 
semiconscious and subconscious interest and past experi- 
ence determine what each shall see. The process is not one 
particle different whether half a dozen men of different 
callings read the same book, listen to the same sermon, 
hear the same political argument, view a beautiful paint- 
ing, witness a mob, or gaze on the beauties of nature. Each 
has already within him the powers that will mainly deter- 
mine his mental reaction to these things. We shall never 
know the truth about those who are held up to us as heroes 
or as villains. Whether we see their acts in daily life or 
read of these acts in history, previous feelings and ideas 
will largely determine what interpretation we shall put 
upon them. The simplest tone of voice from one who has 
insulted us, a look from our enemy or from one who has 
suspected us, or a meaningless remark made to others, 
even the silence of those whom we mistrust — all these 
have a different meaning for us from that conveyed to any 
other observer. In the interpretation of such things those 
whom we call sensitive cannot even approximate the truth. 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 81 

A thousand different denominations read the same Bible 
and each puts a different interpretation upon it. Is this 
difference due to different degrees of intelligence, or, as 
some think, to intentional misinterpretation ? The broad- 
minded student cannot accept either. In our low degree 
of culture we considered others either dishonest or igno- 
rant. The average Christian who reads the ten command- 
ments of Buddha never dreams of putting into them what 
the devout Buddhist sees concealed therein; the reverse 
is equally true. 

In all cases similar to the foregoing it is of fundamental 
importance to note hoio absolutely certain we are that our 
interpretations are the correct ones. Do we not know 
when people intend to insult us ? Do we not feel and know 
that sensitiveness and prejudice do not determine our judg- 
ment ? A gentleman informed me that he was summoned 
to serve on a jury in a criminal case. When asked if he 
had any prejudice for or against the criminal, he said, '' I 
do not know." He was asked to stand aside, while one 
after another said Yes or No and was rejected or accepted. 
He was the only one of many who realized that his judg- 
ment might be influenced by apperceptive processes not 
then in the focus of consciousness. 

Some states proliibit butchers from serving on a criminal 
jury. Do you see why ? It is the entire history of a man's 
life that goes into his judgments, interpretations, and con- 
duct. How can any one interpret history without a knowl- 
edge of apperception? Wlien the North and South stood 
armed against each other, each declaring the other inten- 
tionally and knowingly wrong, each interpreting the same 
constitution and laws differently, each charging that the 



82 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

other was dominated by selfish interest only, what should 
be the verdict of the true historian ? Shall we not proclaim 
that the vast majority on both sides were honest and con- 
scientious ? But, at the same time, was not this difference 
of interpretation due chiefly to the tcnconscious influence 
of long-accumulated interest, prejudice, and envy ? 

Nowhere does apperception exert such a powerful influ- 
ence as in political and religious presentations. This is 
due to the intense personal interest, accumulated feelings 
and ideas, and to habits of thought, all of which enter 
into every new or contrary idea. The fundamental aim of 
the foregoing examples has been to bring out the chief 
element in apperception — the poioer of past experience, 
feelings, and ideas to modify iinconscioiisly every neio 
presentation, and to thrust upon us the feeling that loe 
have perceived correctly the essentials and given the proper 
interpretation. 

Suggested Apperception. What is here designated as 
suggested apperception is treated by Witmer as prepercep- 
tion under apperception. As a method of approach to this 
topic examine Eig. 1. 

Fig. 1 is only thirty-nine straight lines symmetrically 
arranged on a white sheet of paper, yet it may be seen as 
any one of four or five different things. In the first place it 
is possible to think of it simply as so many straight lines. 
Investigations strongly indicate that many high-school 
students execute drawings that pass with high merit, yet 
they never see anything but lines on a plain surface. 
Observe this figure. It is a staircase you are about to 
ascend. Is it not there ? No, you are mistaken ; it is not 



FOUlSTTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 



83 




Fig. 1 



a staircase ; it is simply a cardboard, bent in the shape of 
stairs and suspended on a white wall. Think intensely of 
this and see if you do not get it. You can, if you first fix 
this image vividly before your mind. Now look at the 
angles. Are they right or obtuse ? Think intensely and 
you may get what you look for. '' The anticipation of a 
perception by a thought, idea, or mental image," Dr. Witmer 
calls preperception. I prefer to designate it apperception 
dice to direct suggestion. 



84 



ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



Let us examine a few more figures, in order that this 
idea of direct suggestive apperception may be definitely fixed. 
Fig. 2 is not quite so simple as you may think. Is it only a 
design in black and white ? Do you see it ? Now think of 
a series of six-sided boxes with white edges, piled one upon 
another. Do you not see them 1 With eyes partly closed, 



% 














Fig. 2 

look steadily at the black parts and think that they are 
only six-sided holes in a white surface. But after all it is 
only a honeycomb. The degree of persistency with which 
it tends to appear as a honeycomh will depend upon onr 
previous experience, for its objective reality is only dark 
spots on a white background. 

Fig. 3 consists of many regular, straight lines on a 
white background. At first they give the appearance 



rOUNTAmS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 



85 



of a design containing diamond-shaped 
figures. Think of three rectangular boxes 
to your left and two to the right, with 
the open ends toward you. Look, for 
they are there. Now make the section 
ahcd project in the center, forming right 
angles from you, and you may see the 
boxes to the left with closed ends pro- 
jecting. Note how you can make the 
center of ctbcd project or recede, forming 
right angles to or from you just as 
rapidly as you change your thoughts 
about it. From the right end look at the a 
figure lengthwise and note the effect. 

Fig. 4 is a black ball on a w^iite 
background. Do you see it ? No ; you 
have made a mistake. It is just the 
reverse. Perhaps it is only a circular d 
design in black and w^hite. 

The reader must not lose sight of 
the fact that it is apperception due to 
past experience that enables us to name 
these lines "staircase," ''honeycomb," 
" boxes," "ball" etc. The images are not 
inherent in the lines, but they are due 
to past experiences concealed in the 
mind. The savage who never saw one 
of these objects will, with just as good 
authority, make something else out of 
the lines. What is true of these lines 
is also true of Shakespeare's " Hamlet," 



Fig. 3 



86 



ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



save that the conditions and possibilities are infinitely 
more complicated. The true teacher of literature simply 
stimulates apperception by appropriate suggestions. The 
judgments concerning many characters depend upon a 
suggestion, whether autosuggestion or otherwise. 




Fig. 4 



Fig. 5 may be seen either as a duck or a rabbit, 
according to which is uppermost in consciousness. I 
showed this drawing to a physician whose chief sport is 
duck hunting. He pronounced it a duck, and it was with 
difficulty that he ever saw it as a rabbit. Will not a 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 87 

moment's reflection convince us that life is filled with 
thousands of important interpretations that rest on the 
same foundation as this one ? Does it not often happen 
that a word, a look, an act, a deed, involving the peace and 
happiness or misery of many, a phrase in law on which 
hinges great destinies, a religious difference involving gen- 
erations yet unborn, is as capable of a doulle interpretation 
as this simple figure ? Is it not also true that mental pre- 
possession or direct suggestion may determine the interpre- 
tation that shall dominate ? How unfortunate that the 
study of psychology has not 
yet brought men to a keener 
realization of this universal 
fact of life ! Let a man get a 
mental prepossession that you 
are bad and untrustworthy, 
and no matter what you do 
or say he will find a dozen ^i<>- ^ 

ways to show wherein it dif- 
fers from the acts and words of good, honest people. 
Between the real Eoosevelt and the ideas of him there 
exists a gulf over wliich neither friends nor foes shall 
ever pass. Apperception and suggestion made the gulf 
and now maintain it. In p)roportion as a man hnoivs 
apperception will he grow in charity for his fellow men 
— even his enemies. 

With a certain background in mind we see words on the 
printed page that are not there. Have you never been 
astonished at your owtl misinterpretations of certain 
headlines in the newspapers, or at finding yourself half- 
unconsciously hunting for that which you condemn as 




88 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

unfit for the newspapers ? The literary composer cannot 
be trusted to correct his own proof. He is likely to see 
it not as it is but as it should be. 

Definition of Apperception. Wide examples are the only 
possible road to an adequate comprehension of any defini- 
tion of wide application. So we must now leave the reader to 
supply other illustrations. Even at the risk of criticism by 
those who love finality, a somewhat arbitrary, simple, and 
limited definition is desirable for our purposes. We will 
therefore consider apperception as the unconscious or dimly 
conscious influence of past tendencies, feelings, ideas, and 
experiences to modify neia experiences, impressions, feelings, 
and ideas. The most important words are " unconscious or 
dimly conscious influence." The fact that this influence is 
not distinctly felt in consciousness produces that feeling of 
certainty that our interpretation is correct. This limitation 
of apperception to the unconscious or dimly conscious in- 
fluence of the past will prevent us from confusing it with 
the entire association of ideas and the thought process. 
While one object of this presentation is to show that ap- 
perception is a power always lying behind these and other 
processes, yet it is unwise to confuse them. 

Factors determining the Strength and Direction of the 
Apperceptive Power. 1. Strong natural impulses and 
instincts unconsciously influence the interpretation of any 
present experience. This you may witness in animals, 
children, and men. War is instinctive, and every presenta- 
tion pertaining thereto must be submitted to a certain 
amount of this influence. The play instinct in children 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMAN CONDUCT 89 

demands its right in determining the line of their observa- 
tion and interpretations. The love instinct unconsciously 
injects itself into thousands of adolescent interpretations. 
The same love novel has quite different meanings to the 
same person at different ages. 

2. Strong personal interests are like "coming events 
that cast their shadows before." How shall the millionaire, 
even though he consciously and honestly try, ever see the 
glories of socialism so long as his own personal interests 
unconsciously cast the shadow of his own doom before 
him ? How shall the poor and distressed whose heart's 
desire is foreshadowed in socialism see its possible dangers ? 
How impossible for them to believe that their pure hearts 
could ever become ensnared by a blind thirst for wealth if 
only the opportunity presented itself ! How easily we 
believe the slanders of graft and dishonesty when made 
against those who stand in the way of our deepest desires ! 
The owner of slaves must view slavery differently from 
others. To own a big silver mine is a great help toward 
making one sensitive to all the arguments for free silver. 
To be a great banker in New York is enough to blind 
the eye of reason to these same arguments. I insist 
that, in nine cases out of ten, neither the capitalist nor 
the socialist, the saloon keeper nor the minister, the be- 
lievers in slavery nor their opponents, are hypocrites. 
TJieir own interests unconsciously blind them ttntil they 
cannot see things otherwise while conditions remain as 
they are. Do not such facts alone make reasonable a 
demand for the diffusion of some practical, psychological 
knowledge ? " It is worth noticing that back of the act 
lies an interest ; in the act lies tlie seed of a habit ; ahead 



90 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

of the act lies behavior, which grows into conduct, this 
into character, and character into destiny." 

3. Mental assimilation feeds this hidden fountain of 
apperception. Schiller once said that no knowledge is 
effective until it has been dipped into the nectar of the 
soul and lost its identity as knowledge. We may safely 
say that many students and college professors mistake the 
means for the end in education. Facts are valuable mainly 
for creating an attitude of mind and for developing per- 
manent interests in the great problems of hfe, and not as 
material to stock the mind like a great and well-classified 
museum. What we have forgotten has a thousand times 
more influence on us than what we remember. We can 
no more escape from the results of our past thinking, 
even though it is forgotten, than we can escape the law 
of gravity. 

4. Strong sentiments of love and hate, of prejudice and 
jealousy, of religion and patriotism, give a domination to 
apperception perhaps unequaled elsewhere. In general the 
individual is either unconscious or dimly conscious of this 
influence. He honestly believes his interpretations correct. 
In many cases, no matter how kind your acts may be, they 
will be given exactly the opposite interpretation ; and so 
evident and sincere is this estimate in the mind of your 
interpreter, that attempted explanations make it worse. 
In like manner the religious conservative has always 
viewed his brother heretic as intentionally wrong and dis- 
honest, and has only scorned his attempted explanations. 

5. The power of mental hahit hecoines dominant. The 
more limited the intelligence and narrow the experience 
of an individual the more powerful is apperception in its 



rouNTAms OF humai^ conduct 91 

accustomed line of activity. For example, it is usually 
labor lost to attempt to convert to a modern scientific view 
a man of maturity, whose reading has been narrow and 
whose thinking has been limited to a simple phase of life. 
Such people are usually the most certain of their ideas and 
most confident of the correct interpretation of any new 
ideas. This they manifest in their irony, sarcasm, and 
contempt for new views. New ideas are either absurd or 
they are proclaimed to be old ideas under another name. 
The history of the idea of evolution would furnish vol- 
umes of illustrations. 

6. Certain physical conditions may greatly facilitate or 
retard apperception. Illness and fatigue, which have a 
general weakening effect upon the body, modify and pro- 
long the apperceptive process. Nervous disorders which 
result in despondency give the apperceptive basis for a 
pessimistic interpretation of everything. The fact that nerv- 
ous fatigue and exhaustion are never distinctly in con- 
sciousness as such, while their effects are unconsciously 
manifested in all the physical activities, makes any explana- 
tion to the individual useless. Modern research is giving 
us some idea of how much the soul activities are dependent 
on the cooperative action of the nervous system. 

So at least these six elements or sources of appercep- 
tive power may be distinctly recognized. All of these 
enforce the essential features of the tentative definition 
suggested above. It is necessary to reiterate that psy- 
chological processes are so intimately related that some 
repetition is necessary ; but viewing things from different 
standpoints prevents that narrow . condition of thinking 
fatal to all study. 



92 ELEME:NrTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Is Apperception a Good or a Bad Thing? Can we 

free ourselves from it ? If not, is it possible ever to know 
the truth, at least outside of the mathematical quanti- 
tative sciences ? The first question might be asked about 
any of the conditions of human life, wherever we can 
imagine how it might have been bettered in the making. 
The greatest evil concerning apperception lies in the igno- 
rance of its existence and of its power in directing our 
interpretations. On account of this ignorance, persecution 
and hatred exist where charity and tolerance should pre- 
dominate. Bigotry and dogmatism reign where humility 
and intellectual progress should be. We can free ourselves 
from the extreme dangers of false interpretations just in 
proportion to the breadth of our knowledge and experience. 
But the law is inevitable. The age at which such knowl- 
edge and experience is acquired is important. A man 
whose apperceptive tendency is well fixed may later acquire 
a certain verbal facihty in views contrary to his, but tliis 
remains essentially objective and insufficient to modify, to 
any marked extent, his interpretations. So, reasonably 
early and wide knowledge, wide experience with mankind, 
and the psychological consciousness that we are ever likely 
to give a false interpretation due to our past experiences, 
are the main avenues of freedom from the dangers of this 
psychological law. Darwin once said, '' Learning is humble 
compared with the pride of ignorance." 

That this very psychological law forever bars us from 
absohote truth in all matters where our past experience 
enters into our judgments, — social, political, religious, 
moral, aesthetic, and judgments of the cliaracter and con- 
duct of our fellow men, — should he frankly admitted and 



FOUNTAINS OF HUMA:N" CONDUCT 93 

made the basis of all such thinking. All boasted finality 
in interpreting the ^:>a5^ is absurd. Well may we assent to 
Goethe's words : 

Ay, truly ! even to the loftiest star I 
To us, my friend, the ages that are passed 
A book with seven seals close-fastened are ; 
And what the spirit of the times men call, 
Is merely their own spirit after all. 

Having called your attention to six great springs of 
human life, — the Will or Desire to Live, Instinct, Imita- 
tion, Habit, Feeling, and Apperception, — we shall not pass 
to the technical and physical part of our subject until we 
have examined the great modern idea of evolution. As 
evolution is the foundation of any proper interpretation 
of psychical phenomena and of the social sciences, logi- 
cally it should come first. But Chapters I, II, and III 
furnisli a background for the comprehension of what is 
now to follow, and are doubtless more interesting and 
practical. The material in these chapters must have de- 
veloped in the mind of the reader the conception of evolu- 
tion without any definite presentation as such ; it is all 
evolutionary in its nature. Hence, in the following chapter 
we pass to a more systematic and comprehensive explana- 
tion of that material and the facts which it contains. 



CHAPTEK V 

relatio:n^ of psychology a:n^d evolution 

General Statement. The dominant idea of the past fifty 
years has been Evolution. Without some notion of what is 
involved in this, the greatest generalization of the human 
race, the true significance of even the commonplace things 
of life is impossible. Within this short period evolution, 
by appeal to man's judgment and sense, has peaceably and 
quietly conquered the whole scientific world. 

When one has finished a good review of the progress 
and practical application of nineteenth-century science, 
so vast and accurate in detail, with so many false views and 
theories buried, with such noble surrender in the face of facts 
as witnessed in that memorable Weismann-Spencer con- 
troversy, he arises as from a dream ; and this feeling that 
it can be only a dream is greatly intensified when he turns 
to contemplate our social and moral organizations, our 
legal notions of crime and administration of justice, our 
political machinery and our educational systems. How 
can such " hit-or-miss " methods, such contradictory ideas, 
such clinging to theories in the face of facts, exist side by 
side with this mighty onward march of science ? 

Alfred Wallace once said: '' Compared with our astound- 
ing progress in physical science and its application, our 
system of government, of administrative justice, and of 

94 



PSYCHOLOGY AND EVOLUTIOK 95 

national education, and our entire social and moral organ- 
ization, remain in a state of barbarism." Nothing but a 
thorough knowledge and careful application of the laws 
under which these institutions have developed can bridge 
this chasm. If the deepest meaning of the world is not 
moral, then it has no meaning, or at least must remain an 
enigma to man. Yet, concerning the general development 
of morahty in the human race, and concerning the physio- 
logical and biological conditions of morality, the laws of 
heredity and their effects upon morality, it is safe to say 
that there are few subjects on which ignorance is so uni- 
versal — yes, worse than ignorance ; myth and superstition 
usurp the place of knowledge. The whole high-school 
course should be saturated with the great doctrine of evo- 
lution and modern psychology ; not necessarily as sepa- 
rate studies, but the teacher, once master of these subjects, 
will make them the background of all teaching whatsoever. 
A true knowledge of man and his institutions and a knowl- 
edge of evolution are inseparable. Any adequate idea of 
psychology involves some comprehension of evolution. 

Many hundred years ago Buddha declared that all liv- 
ing beings are what their past actions have made them, 
and that the law of cause and effect is uniform and with- 
out exception. The universality of cause and effect, the 
dominating influence of the past, the power of animal in- 
stincts, are vital truths which evolution has proclaimed 
with unmistakable evidence, and which are indispensable 
to a proper comprehension of human life. A simple pres- 
entation of evolution in such a manner as to avoid that 
religious shock that beginners sometimes feel, will now 
occupy our attention. 



96 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

A remarkable statement of evolution was published in 
1784, in John Wesley's '' Compendium of Natural Phi- 
losophy," in the chapter on A General View of the 
Gradual Progression of Beings. We read of the '' ostrich 
with the feet of a goat which unites birds to quadrupeds. 
... By what degrees does Nature raise herself to 
man ? ... How will she rectify this head that is 
always inclined toward earth ? How change these paws 
into flexible arms ? What method will she make use of 
to transform these crooked feet into skillful and supple 
hands ? Or how will she widen and extend this contracted 
stomach ? In what manner will she place the breasts and 
give them a roundness suitable to them ? The ape is this 
rough draft of man, this rude sketch, an imperfect repre- 
sentation which nevertheless bears a resemblance to him, 
and is the last creature that serves to display the admir- 
able progression of the works of God. . . . Such is man 
in the highest degree of earthly perfection. But mankind 
have their gradations as well as other productions of our 
globe. There is a prodigious number of continued links 
between the most perfect man and the ape^ ^^lat a mar- 
velous statement from such an unexpected source ! 

The theory of evolution as conceived to-day is based 
upon the orderly and systematic arrangement of an almost 
innumerable number of otherwise ordinary facts about 
living organisms, about the development of mind, morality, 
religion, and all of man's social institutions. These facts 
bear such a relation to each other as to compel every one 
who thoroughly investigates them to conclude that plants 
and animals did not suddenly come into existence as they 
are now, but that their present form is the result of a 



PSYCHOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 97 

long, long series of changes. Not only do individuals and 
species arise in this manner, but institutions, governments, 
languages, and religions obey the same general laws of 
development. The conception and development of this 
world-sweeping idea we owe mainly to such mighty souls 
as Schelling, Oken, Goethe, Lamarck, Darwin, Spencer, 
Wallace, Huxley, Haeckel, and Weismann. At the present 
time thousands of men are daily employed in subjecting 
to the severest criticism all the details of this wonderful 
theory. In these details many modifications take place 
yearly ; but it is safe to say that all research and every test 
have with one voice proclaimed the truth, value, and univer- 
sality of this great Darwinian vision. No thinking individual 
need any longer apologize for believing in evolution ; he 
need rather apologize for lack of ability to comprehend it. 
Just reflect a moment on what changes have been pro- 
duced through the domestication of plants and animals 
within the short memory of a generation. Growers and 
breeders find countless variations — some for better and 
some for worse, some in color, some in size, some in 
strength and endurance, some in swiftness, some in 
beauty of form and shape, some in pleasure afforded man, 
some in gentleness and kindness, some in reproductive 
power. They select the most suitable males and females, 
and, breeding from these, they soon startle the world w^ith 
their biological productions. But Nature runs a labo- 
ratory infinitely larger than all the other laboratories in 
the w^orld, and still holds locked in her bosom many of 
the mysteries of its operation. Evolution as a science 
rests entirely upon the discovery and systematic arrange- 
ment of some of these mysteries. 



98 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Natural Selection, or the Struggle for Existence. The 

number of creatures born and desiring to live is immensely 
in excess of what the conditions permit to live. Any spe- 
cies, even of a low degree of fertility, if left to live and 
die a natural death, in a few centuries would fill the earth. 
The slowest animal in the world to propagate and bring 
its young to maturity is the elephant. Yet, if all the off- 
spring of a single pair of elephants lived, propagated, 
and died a natural death, in seven hundred fifty years 
there would be nineteen million elephants. '' Small as 
bacteria are," says Dr. Hodge, '' they possess a power of 
growth and multiplication not paralleled by any other 
living forms. It is estimated that if all the oceans were 
nutrient broth, with an average depth of one mile, the prog- 
eny of one microbe might fill them full in less than five 
days." This is prevented by the incessant struggle for exis- 
tence always taking place among species as well as among 
individuals of the same species. No two individuals of any 
species enter the world equally equipped or with equal 
tenacity of life. Thus Nature, not by deliberation but by 
conditions, constantly selects those best fitted to meet the 
conditio7iS in which they must live. Hence we have two 
great terms of evolution — natural selection, which is the 
very complicated process by which the vast majority of 
organisms are weeded out, or soon prevented from propa- 
gating their kind ; and survival of the fittest, which is 
the product of natural selection. 

Natural selection, or the struggle for existence, is not 
carried on simply by brute force. Many elements enter 
into it — far too many to enumerate here. In the first 
place, heat and cold, rain and sunshine, natural conditions 



PSYCHOLOGY AXD EVOLUTIOIST 99 

of country, floods and droughts, inequality of hereditary 
force and tenacity of life, intellectual superiority or infe- 
riority of individuals and species, difference in ability to 
resist disease, presence or absence of other species, mode 
of reproduction, number of offspring, care and protection 
of the same, are factors in natural selection. Also tender- 
ness, kindness, unselfishness, self-sacrifice, become in the 
higher stages of evolution means of carrying on the strug- 
gle and of sifting out those least fit to survive. Might, 
therefore, is by no means the sole factor of this com- 
plicated struggle. If any nation would to-day substitute for 
its army and navy, love and charity for all mankind, it is 
at least conceivable that such a nation might make so 
deep an impression on other nations as to have a better 
means of survival than she now has. However, we have 
reason to hope that, concerning the ages yet unborn, this is 
not simply a wild dream. While justice, love, and charity 
may never become the sole standards of survival, yet the 
struggle among men has been and will doubtless continue to 
be made milder by these factors. It is hard to make war on 
unadulterated love and justice. The thoroughly disarmed 
Quakers of Pennsylvania seem to have been at no disadvan- 
tage in the struggle for survival among the Indians. Spinoza 
or Socrates could confront a mob and, by that justice and 
truth that radiated from them, stultify the whole of it. 

Survival of the Present and Survival of the Past. Do 

the fittest survive ? Here we encounter a question which 
is often a great stumblingblock to many. Survival of the 
fittest is not synonymous with survival of the hest in an 
absolute sense. You may be earning fifty dollars per month, 



100 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

which is the best conditions will allow; but you may 
imagine conditions that give letter results. When we were 
children certain ideas survived in us as the fittest because 
conditions would permit of no other. First, do not forget 
that everything in this world is subject to the laws 
of evolution — even governments, institutions, religions, 
feelings, and ideas. 

Again, there is a survival for this moment and a survi- 
val for each and all past moments. The survival of this 
moment could only be made the survival for any past 
moment by changing the conditions which made the past 
what it was. For example, we may now think single 
marriage the proper survival of all sex relations ; but what 
chance had this idea to be the dominant survival among 
low, wandering, savage races ? Or how could justice, love, 
and charity now be the test of survival among the cretins 
of Aosta, who go about with their hands up, their mouths 
open, and their minds empty ? '' Democracy," you say, '' is 
the survival of the fittest among governments." But how 
could it be the survival of the fittest for the Hottentots, 
either in idea or as an institution ? What is true of these 
cases is true of every other condition that may be men- 
tioned, only in most cases the factors are so many and so 
complex that they are not discernible. In reality our 
thinking on such lines is always accompanied by a sup- 
pressed condition — if things were so and so. This condition 
we tend to ignore in our thinking. 

Individual and Collective Survival. There is also an 
individual and a collective survival. Nothing can be more 
important than to note this in regard to our feelings and 



PSYCHOLOGY AND EYOLUTIOX 101 

ideas. In my mind it is wrong to make war on any people 
because they resent our efforts to give them our religion. 
That idea is the survival of the fittest in my mind. But 
history shows that even down to the present time it is 
not the idea that has survived in the mind of the public. 
As an American, should there survive in your mind 
the idea and feeling that a monarchy is better than a re- 
public, for you this would be the survival of the fittest 
both in institution and in idea; but it shows no sign 
of being the survival of the fittest collectively. Among 
our ideas and feelings such a struggle for survival is 
always going on. 

Any ideas and feelings that have the right of way in 
your soul must, from your basis of consideration, appear 
to be the most fit to survive, even if the people round 
about you hold contrary ideas and feelings. The first is 
individual survival, the second collective survival. Have 
we not advanced far enough to see that what is most fit 
for any given individual or any given age is not necessarily 
most fit for all other individuals and for all other ages ? 
Do you see the two different standards by which the fittest 
is tested ? A yormg minister of my acquaintance feels very 
intensely that all modern science is wrong. When re- 
minded that this is not the attitude taken by most of his 
associates, he asked, '' Do you believe that all ministers 
are religious, and have taken their guidance from God ? " 
This implies how firmly he considers his ideas the fittest 
to survive. 

It is hoped that any class or individual reading this 
book will ere long be made conscious of the struggle of 
ideas. In any class the final survival of ideas in a few 



102 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

individuals may be quite different from the general sur- 
vival of the ideas of the class as a whole. Nevertheless 
such individuals must consider theirs the fittest to survive. 
These examples, with others that will readily be sug- 
gested, should leave no doubt as to the proper answer to 
the question: ''Do the fittest survive?" 

Sexual Selection. Among animals of the same species 
will be found remarkable variations in color, in sweetness 
and power of song, in the power and manifestations of 
instincts, in organs of defense, etc. In nearly all the ani- 
mal world the males struggle, often unto death, for the 
possession of the female. Thus the strongest, shrewdest, 
and best equipped propagate their kind. The female is 
also active in selecting her mate. Color and song are the 
courting equipment of the animal world. In some myste- 
rious way form, color, song, and movement stimulate the 
sex instinct and thus furnish a basis of selection. Darwin 
called this sexual selection. Increased biological knowledge 
gives more and more importance to sexual selection as a 
factor of evolution. 

Another kind of sexual selection has recently been given 
great importance as an evolutionary force. It is an instinc- 
tive tendency of like to mate with like. In a wide sense 
this is evident to any one, but the principle has been 
recently applied, not only to account for failure of species 
to cross, but to show how species naturally break up into 
smaller and smaller groups, as variations come within the 
species. For example, in nature, should variations of white 
or black ducks occur in a species, or unusually small or 
large ones, there may exist a tendency for white ones to 



PSYCHOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 103 

mate with each other, all things else being equal ; and so 
on with the black, the small, and the large ones. A very 
exhaustive work recently published suggests that this prin- 
ciple applies strongly to human marriage. In another 
chapter we have found the sex instinct manifesting itself 
in human life as a true psychological explanation of many 
acts otherwise incomprehensible. 

Sources of Advantages and Variations necessary for 
Advancement and Survival. Now I am anticipating in the 
mind of the reader questions of far-reaching import. Whence 
arise the multiplicity of individual variations which furnish 
the basis of natural and sexual selection ? 

1. Acquired variations. During the life of an organ- 
ism any of its parts mil develop or degenerate according 
as such parts are used or fail to be called into use. Mode 
of life, food, climatic conditions, and a thousand other 
things may produce changes in the organism during the 
run of its natural life. But many thinkers now believe 
that these modifications are rarely, if at all, transmitted to 
the offspring. They point to the fact that scars, burns, 
mutilations, amputated limbs, blindness acquired during 
the lifetime of the individual, show no signs of appearing 
in the children ; while any deformity or exceptional quality 
which the child brings into the world, tends to reappear 
in the offspring. Defective hearing and sight, harelip, 
double thumbs, idiocy, imbecility, criminal tendencies, 
special gifts or talents, etc., due not to conditions in life 
but to what the individual brings into the world, all tend 
to reappear in the offspring. Into this memorable and 
scholarly controversy we will not enter save to say that 



104 ELEMEIS^TARY PSYCHOLOGY 

three things seem evident. First, that the lower an organ- 
ism is in the scale of evolution, the more likely are these 
modifications to appear in the offspring ; while the higher 
it is, the less likely and the more indefinite will he their 
appearance. Second, that psychic modifications, if they 
appear at all, tend to appear as vague and indefinite feel- 
ings. Third, that poisons, such as alcohol, may act upon 
the germ cells so as to produce modifications in the off- 
spring, but not of any specific determined nature. 

2. Spontaneous variation. All evolutionists are agreed 
that whenever two germ cells unite to form a new life, 
there is a strong tendency to vary from the original type. 
Eecent research and artificial crossing of plants and ani- 
mals have only begun to reveal how enormous this varia- 
tion may be. Since the time of Darwin we have called 
this spontaneous variation ; not that it is without a cause, 
but simply that the cause is unknown to us. Universality 
of causation is the corner stone of evolution. 

Eecently extensive investigations have been made- con- 
cerning the causes of variations. Many writers now 
designate these spontaneous variations, originating from 
and depending on the inner nature of the germ cell, 
as discontinuous variation or variation hy mutation. One 
writer has presented a large volume entitled '' Evolution 
by Mutation." Discontinuous variation suggests a con- 
siderable degree of unlikeness to the parents, or, in some 
cases, a radical difference ; while spontaneous variation 
primarily implies that the causes are hidden in the nature 
of the germ cells. By exposing the eggs and pupae of 
insects to abnormal conditions of heat, cold, and other dis- 
turbing factors, it is found that extreme variations will 



PSYCHOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 105 

occur in a small proportion of those treated, and milder 
variations in a much larger number. These experiments 
indicate that extreme conditions may upset the stability of 
the germ cells ; but the alterations do not necessarily occur 
in the same line as the normal variation, or in conformity 
with the environment. After all, it goes back to sponta- 
neous variation, for it is the nature of the germ cell that 
determines whether it will vary and to what extent. Also, 
germ cells, even of the same parent, are demonstrated to 
be unlike in their deepest nature. 

Note the great variety of white fowls now in domesti- 
cation. Such are the products of these variations. Internal 
causes, not outside conditions, have produced these effects. 
In nature white fowls were generally at a great disadvan- 
tage in the struggle for life ; hence they are rarely found. 
Many believe that spontaneous variations are the only mod- 
ifications sent on to the next generation, and that such 
variations furnish all the material for selection. 

3. Rhythmic tendency to vary. The far-reaching ex- 
periments conducted by De Vries and others in recent 
years strongly indicate that species have rhythmic periods 
of strong tendency to vary in many directions from the 
general type. This theory states that after a long period 
of relative stability the entire species is moved by an inner 
tendency to vary, and under favorable conditions change 
is very rapid. This theory of transition of species by varia- 
tions lying deep in the organism makes possible more rapid 
changes than were conceived of by the early writers on 
evolution. All the evidence seems to indicate that the later 
writers are essentially correct on one point — that the 
primary causes of variation are inherent in the individual 



106 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

organisms and not in the experiences or behavior of the 
individual during its lifetime. In the last edition of " The 
Origin of Species" Darwin admits that he has not previously 
paid sufficient attention to these inner forces. 

Evolution of Language. In order to comprehend the gen- 
eral processes of thinking, to understand education aright, 
to clear up the many tangles in morals and religion, nothing 
is more important than a thorough conception of the evo- 
lution of language. Countless are the educational and 
moral blunders and crimes committed under the assump- 
tion that sometime, some place, somehow, words dropped 
down from heaven with fixed, ready-made meanings ; or, 
as Paulsen says, that some clever fellow among these speech- 
less men sat down one day and devised a language, and 
then called a convention to promulgate his discovery. Pray 
in what language did he call the convention ? Did one in- 
vent verbs, another adverbs, another conjugations, another 
declensions, and so forth? As well say that intelligence 
was similarly invented. 

John Fiske tells us that previous to this discovery of 
the evolution of language, '' no end of books were written 
to prove that all known languages were in some way 
descended from Hebrew," because it was presumably the 
language of God and therefore the uncorrupted dialect 
of mankind. All this is labor lost. Language was never 
made nor invented; it simply grew, and keeps on eter- 
nally growing and changing. Yet thousands of people go 
on proclaiming one fixed and only correct meaning for 
words, which may be obtained provided we can chase it 
through roots and relations enough. Others teach bare 



PSYCHOLOGY AND EVOLUTION lOT 

words as if they had some magic power to cause a cor- 
responding knowledge to spring up in the soul. 

What is language and how did it come into existence ? 
Without an adequate answer to this question morality 
and religion soon come to exalt form above content, and 
deprive the individual of all consciousness of natural in- 
ternal insight. I in no wise depreciate the value of philol- 
ogy and the science of language. It is the superstitious 
worship of words, of the past, and the ignorance concern- 
ing whence comes the meaning which we daily put into 
words, that are alarming. 

In the widest sense language is any gesture, sign, or 
sound by which one individual is able to make others 
aware of feelings, ideas, and states of soul, similar to those 
that prompted such gestures, signs, and sounds in him. 
On the supposition that a parrot puts no meaning into 
the many words he learns to utter, we could not properly 
speak of such vocabulary as the parrot's language. Neither 
can we speak of the thousand or two words, whether 
foreign or native, that an individual learns to utter with- 
out having any feeling or state of soul corresponding 
thereto, as his vocabulary. The ability to communicate 
thoughts, feelings, and ideas to one another is not a 
special gift of the gods to man ; but wherever organisms 
live in groups or herds it is coextensive with even com- 
paratively indefinite states of sensation, perception, and 
feelings. We now have the necessary history to prove the 
development of language from the earliest to the most 
recent modifications of our own English speech. 

The gesture-sign language so dominant among the 
higher animals still forms no small part of the human 



108 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

language. Nearly all the ways and means of expressing 
the many complex emotions and feelings common to the 
brute creation are still preserved by man. Enter one of 
our modern picture shows and note how, with very 
slight clues, whole stories are correctly interpreted mainly 
by means of signs and gestures. The successful animal 
trainer becomes one with his animals in that he assumes 
their language signs. I listen to a man making a speech, to 
a woman paying her respects by a formal call and conver- 
sation, to a witness testifying in court, to a musical con- 
cert, to a student reciting in my classroom, and in no case 
are the bare words the main clue to the state of mind that 
lies behind the screen ; but the eye, the innumerable varia- 
tions of the voice, the muscular movements, the position 
of the mouth, of the eyebrows, variations in color, a vast 
number of minor signs — all speak a language that has from 
long experience become almost instinctively intelligible. 

The deep basis of the gesture-sign language lies in 
the fact that every psychic change or disturbance of 
the soul tends to be manifested in some motor response. 
G. Stanley Hall has given an elaborate account of these 
gestures. Greetings on meeting friends, strangers, supe- 
riors, etc., are of many kinds, and have constituted a real 
means of communication. Many gestures and ceremonies 
express social and personal relations. Often images of 
memory and imagination are communicated by signs, 
movements, and drawings in the air. Moral and immoral 
qualities are often designated by signs. Facial movements 
and changes may be so varied as to express almost every 
emotion known to man. In 190 a.d. six thousand so- 
called dumb actors were retained in Rome in spite of the 



PSYCHOLOGY AXD EV0LUTI0:N' 109 

intense famine. They were the interpreters of people of 
unknown tongue, and some accompanied armies on their 
conquests to act as revealers of the lives of great men. All 
this was accompHshed by the gesture-sign language. 

In this almost mysterious ability to infer meanings from 
so many sources lies the main reason why no written 
words or books can ever more than approximate the mean- 
ings conveyed by the living speaker. The speaker always 
conveys to his hearers either more or less than his written 
words would convey. His very silence is sometimes the 
most powerful speech. Maeterlinck's '' Voice of Silence " 
is a paradox not without meaning. 

Music is a language far surpassing all other means of 
expressing the truest and deepest nature of the soul. In- 
stinct, feeling, and impulse lie far deeper than thought 
and reason. Music is the expression of the former, speech 
of the latter. 

All this proclaims that in all education, in all study of 
human life, we must remember that words have no fixed 
meaniug save in so far as there exist in human souls simi- 
lar feelings, sentiments, and ideas. These preceded lan- 
guage in its development and should do so to-day in all our 
educational processes. Words are the tools of thoughts 
and feelings, but they have no magic power to create their 
own content. This power of communication grew in the 
animal kingdom as thought developed and necessity de- 
manded. Man's early language was an outgrowth of these 
beginnings and at first was largely signs and gestures. 
Then, in the long ages of man, one variety of communica- 
tion after another sprang up ; some survived and became 
more and more perfected ; countless multitudes were lost 



110 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

and forgotten. The process is not and never will be ended 
while there is any form of intellectual evolution. In a 
similar way it might easily be shown that all other institu- 
tions of man, such as governments, constitutions, social 
conditions, education, morality, religion, are one and all 
the products of the eternal laws of evolution. 

Time and Change. As Darwin long ago said, one of 
the chief difficulties in the way of conceiving this wonder- 
ful development is our perverted and inadequate notion as 
to the time that man has been on this planet. John Fiske 
says, '' We now know that, at least four hundred thou- 
sand years ago, the American continent was inhabited by 
human beings." Why do we not see animals becoming 
men ? is an ever-recurring question. Can we see through 
a hundred thousand or a million years ? 

Again, evolution has limitations — yes, fundamental laws 
of limitation. Eor example, the line it takes is largely 
dependent upon external conditions ; and probably no 
given set of conditions was ever exactly repeated. With 
the new conditions produced by the civilization of man, 
evolution becomes less active in the physical and more 
pronounced in other lines, such as moral and intellectual 
evolution ; yet the physical has not and cannot cease. 
Conditions remaining practically unchanged for some time, 
such as the human evolution in China, tend to produce an 
unchanging type of organisms ; hence the universal law 
that all things tend toward a state of equilibrium, or to 
a relatively stable and unchanging condition. Complete 
stability checks evolution in the line in which it occurs. 
So progress, growth, development, evolution, always mean 



PSYCHOLOGY AXD EVOLUTIOiS" 111 

change — continual change. Likewise failure or inability to 
change and adapt to new conditions ultimately means 
death. Here we encounter the supreme dilemma, espe- 
cially when apphed to human progress. The law of progress 
requires not only occasional but constant adjustment to 
ever-changing conditions. The rapidity of such change 
will depend on the complexity of conditions. Our politi- 
cal, social, educational, and religious institutions form no 
exception to this law. Men are caught in this dilemma : 
they clmg to the permanent, the unchangeable, j^et every 
growing soul seeks progress which says, '' Bury the dead 
and move on." Ibsen sees the struggle to hold to the past 
and yet the desire for progress, when he makes one of his 
characters tell how one night he stood on the deck, and 
looking on the throng of passengers, each the victim of 
some brooding melancholy, seemed to hear a voice crying, 
'' There 's a corpse on board." 

Most reformers will give the careless thinker the im- 
pression that ere long various institutions will have made 
all the adjustments ever necessary, and henceforth agita- 
tion will cease. Some institutions have ceased, and more 
may cease to adjust themselves to new conditions, but 
that very hour they begin to die ; and just as it is in all 
of Nature's vast laboratory, isolation alone can save them 
from death. Truly,'' in the midst of life we are in death." 

Evolution of Mind. The evolution of mind, hand in 
hand with the evolution of the brain and nervous system, 
is now evident. Just as in man we find the nervous sys- 
tem in all its stages of development, so in the animal 
kingdom we find mind in all its stages of development. 



112 



ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



By degrees organisms rise to the more and more complex 
activities of the higher animals and man. In the individual 
we find this same mental evolution, and that mental develop- 
ment depends 
upon the de- 
velopment of 
the nervous 
system. 

In the whole 
animal king- 
dom the grad- 
ual growth of 
mind power 
has more and 
more made un- 




necessary cer- 
tain physical 
evolution and 
physical ad- 
justment. Cun- 
ningness and 
far-reaching 
instincts take 
the place of 
strength and 
endurance of 
body. Every- 
where do we 

find development of instincts from the simple to the more 
complex, from the immediate ends to the more remote ends 
to be served thereby; everywhere do we find increasing 



Fig. 6 (After Jordan) 



PSYCHOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 113 

cunning, increasing care, and more evidence of purpose, 
together with developing powers of perception, budding 
powers of apparent forethought, memory, imagination, and 
thinking. That mind has had a long evolntion, that higher 
powers have developed out of loiver ones, and that there are 
many degrees of these poivers are presuppositions of all 
modern psychology. 

This mental evolution may be arrested both from inter- 
nal and from external causes. The low degree of devel- 
opment as seen in Fig. 6, the cretin of Aosta, was once 
supposed to be due to persistent, internal, hereditary 
causes. This opinion prevailed when Dr. Jordan presented 
this cut as an illustration of mental degeneracy. How- 
ever, success has apparently resulted from the recent dis- 
covery of the cure for this degeneracy. In 1892 it was 
found that cretinism might be overcome by the artificial 
use of thyroid extract. The treatment was tried on one 
of these cretins in 1893, and in 1908 he entered college. 
For the extent and thoroughness of this experiment we 
must await future developments. 

We are now ready to proceed to the more technical parts 
of our subject, to some consideration of the mechanism 
used for these manifestations, and to the other powers of 
mind associated with and growing out of these fou7itains 
of conduct. The object so far has mainly been twofold : 
(1) to create a vital interest in the practical interpretation 
and study of human life ; (2) to give the reader ideas 
fundamental for the interpretation of the other phenomena 
of mind that are to follow. 



CHAPTEE VI 

the :n^eryous system, its fu^ctiox and 
educatio:n^ 

Every living organism, with all that it may now con- 
tain, began its existence as an individual in the form of 
a single minute cell whose complexity and mysteries 
furnish one of the most attractive fields of study in the 
universe. The solution of each problem seems to give 
birth to many larger ones. This original cell is only a 
small fraction of a millimeter in diameter. On beginning 
to grow it soon divides into 2 cells, these into 4, these into 
16, these into 256, then these into 65,536, and so on until 
our whole body is completely formed. Finally, there are by 
rough calculation about 26,500,000,000,000 cells in our 
body. Of these only about 4,000,000,000,000 are what we 
call fixed cells ; the others are in the blood. However, to 
imagine that what we call the body is entirely composed 
of these cells is quite erroneous. Besides much purely 
mineral and waste material, from 55 to 80 per cent of the 
entire body is water, varying and decreasing with age. Yet 
this almost incomprehensible number of cells forms a great 
complex, cooperative whole. The problems and mysteries 
of growth in general are never ending. We must be con- 
tent to present here only the necessary facts about the 
growth of the nervous system, to show the dependence of 
mind upon it, and to become familiar with terms con- 
stantly occurring in psychological works. 

114 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 115 

Divisions of the Nervous System. The entire nervous 
system consists of two divisions — peripheral and central. 
The peripheral includes all the nervous elements outside 
the hrain and spinal cord. It consists of thirty-one pairs 
of spinal nerves, originating inr tiie spinal cord and diffused 
to all parts of the body ; and twelve pairs of cranial nerves, 
originating in the brain, but reaching the surface of the 
body directly and without passing down the cord. The latter 
are such as the nerves of taste, smell, hearing, sight, the 
oculomotor (producing certain movements of the eye), the 
facial, the trifacial, the vagus (which controls the heart). 
The peripheral system includes, then, the thirty-one pairs 
of spinal nerves ; the twelve pairs of cranial nerves and 
all their branches, diffused to all parts of the body ; the 
sensory cell bodies, such as the end organs of sight, hear- 
ing, and touch ; and the ganglionic nerve cells outside 
the brain and spinal cord. 

The central nerrons system is naturally divided into the 
hrain and sjnnal cord. The spinal cord, a cylindrical pro- 
longation of the central nerve mass, is composed of nerve 
cells, collections or aggregates of cells (called ganglia), and 
nerve fibers. It occupies only about two thirds of the length 
of the spinal cavity or canal. It is about eighteen inches 
long in the adult. From birth to maturity it increases in 
size about seven and one-half times. Close examination 
shows that it is divided into several distinct tracts, each the 
liighway of certain nerves running to and from the brain. 

The most important divisions of the brain are : (1) the 
cerebrum, or large brain, with its tw^o hemispheres ; (2) the 
cerebellum, or small brain ; (3) the medulla oblongata, or 
first enlargement of the cord. 



116 



ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 



An internal view of one half of the entire brain is 
shown in Fig. 7, which gives a good idea of these divi- 
sions and proportions. This cut also shows the sensory 
and motor areas, the area for sight, and several of the minor 
divisions and parts of the brain ; but its main object is to 



Pia mater. 



Dura mater 



Velum 
interpositum 



Subdural 
space 




Arachnoid 



Cerebellum 

Foramen 
Magendie 



Fig. 7 (After W^hitaker) 

emphasize the proportions and relations of the three chief 
divisions — cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla. You will 
notice the whitish appearance of the medulla, due to vast 
numbers of fibers passing to and from the brain. The func- 
tions of the medulla are mainly like those of the spinal cord. 



Importance of the Cerebrum. The gray appearance of 
the large brain is due to a larger proportion of ganglion 
cells than fibers. The fibers are practically colorless and 



THE XEEVOUS SYSTEM 117 

are almost transparent; when they are massed together 
the whole is whitish. The cell body contains a dark pig- 
ment, but when libers and cells are mingled, the mass has 
a reddish-gray appearance which varies according to the 
proportion of the fibers to cells. 

Psychologically the cerebriim is our cliief concern. Its 
degree of folds or convolutions was once supposed to 
measure the degree of intelligence. These convolutions 
are seen much better from the surface side. The cortex, or 
cortical surface, is a term frequently used in psychology. In 
general use it simply means the surface, but in pyschology 
it usually refers to the thin outer layer of the cerehrum, 
averaging about one eighth of an inch in thickness and com- 
posed of three or four distinct layers of cells of different 
shapes and sizes. The cortical layers of both the large and 
small brain increase in thickness as the brain increases in 
size. There is some reason to believe that the cerebral 
cortex grows in thickness until the fortieth year. This is 
probably accomplished by the development of small nerve 
elements. These elements are found even in mature brains. 
In their smallest form they are known as granules, wliich 
later develop into neuroblasts, which may be expanded 
into well-marked cells. This is significant as a possibility 
of late intellectual grow^th. 

Composition of the Nervous System. The unit of the 
nervous system is the nerve cell A nerve cell differs from 
other cells by having prolongations, often to the extent of 
having a mass or volume of over five hrmdred times that 
of the cell body from which these branches originate. 
These prolongations are called fibers, and vary in length 



118 



ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



from a small fraction of an inch to several feet. Once the 
fiber and the cell were considered separate, but many recent 
writers use the term " neuron " to include both. We shall 
use the term "cell " or " nerve cell " to include the entire 
unit and shall then speak of the two chief parts as cell 
hody or ganglion cell, and fiber. The same cell body may 
have many fibers of varying sizes and lengths. Some of 
these fibers start from the cells in the cortex, and, extend- 
ing the full length of the 
cord, pass out to the ex- 
tremities of the body. When 
well developed, the fiber us- 
ually has a sheath around it, 
which causes an aggregate 
of them, such as found in 
the medulla, to present a 
white appearance. Nerves, 
such as the thirty-one pairs 
of spinal nerves and the 
twelve cranial nerves, often 
contain thousands of fibers, 
each inclosed in its own 
covering ; then within the main covering we find various 
bundles of fibers all, in turn, inclosed in another sheath. 
They are like a great number of wires starting together 
from a large central office and then branching ofi' at the 
proper places. Fig. 8 represents the cut end of one of 
these small bundles. 

In the optic nerve is found the enormous number of 
more than a million fibers. Nerve fibers vary from about 
one twelve-hundredth to one fifteen-thousandth of an inch 




Fig. 8. A thin slice from the end 
of a cut nerve, magnified two hun- 
dred times (After Overton) 

a, nerve thread; 5, connective tissue 
binding the threads into a cord 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 119 

in diameter. The number of sensory fibers is greatly in 
excess of the number of motor fibers. The number of motor 
fibers coming out from the spinal cord by way of the thirty- 
one sensory roots is placed at about five hundred thousand. 
These are vastly multiphed by further divisions, in their 
service to all parts of the body. When the cranial nerves 
are considered, the proportion of sensory to motor nerves 
is found to be the enormous relation of thirty to one. The 
sensory area in the cortex is correspondingly large. Con- 
nective nerve fibers in the central nervous system are also 
very important ; their f miction is to bind the parts together. 

The cell hody is a mass of jprotoplasm containing a 
nucleus, A cell is not simply a hollow space surrounded 
by solid walls. Under an education that placed words 
and definitions above content, I once so conceived it. 

Examination of Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 will give 
you more information about cells and their fibers than any 
dozen definitions. Fig. 9 shows a vast number of fibers 
passing into the brain from the cord and the cranial nerves, 
such as the optic and auditory nerves, and their separation 
and termination in the cortex. In Fig. 10 we have a 
large nerve cell, presenting a good idea of the cell body 
and its fibers. N indicates the nucleus ; P mdicates pro- 
toplasm. Fig. 11 gives a good conception of the extensive 
multiplication of fibers that may proceed from a single 
cell body. Fig. 12 presents some idea of the different 
shapes and sizes of nerve cells as found in the different 
layers of the human cortex. In Fig. 13 the structure of 
the cerebellum is suggested. This also shows different 
layers of nerve cells. The enormous complexity of the 
nervous system cannot be presented in a work of this kind, 



120 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

but the idea that it is almost incomprehensibly complex 
must be in the background of all psychological thinking. 

Nerve cells are of various shapes, and vary in size from 
one three-hundredth to one five-thousandth of an inch in 
diameter. The entire nervous system probably contains 




Fig. 9 (After Donaldson) 

four billion nerve cells. Donaldson estimates that the cen- 
tral nervous system contains three billion. By a little 
arithmetic you will soon see that one hundred years 
contain only about three billion seconds, so a long life 
would not be sufficient to count the number of nerve cells 
in your nervous system. Cells are capable of six impor- 
tant functions — nutrition, reproduction, contractility, irri- 
tability, conductivity, and coordination or cooperation. 



THE NEEVOUS SYSTEM 



121 



Growth of the Nervous System. The number of cells 
that the nervous system will contain are all present before 
birth, and no new nerve cells will be formed during the life- 
time of the individual. Wlien nerve cells are destroyed in 
toto they are never replaced by multiphcation of new ones, 




Fig. 10 (After Donaldson) 



as in the case of the skin and many other parts of the body. 
The growth from birth on is by the enlargement of cells 
and the prolongation of fibers. Nerve fibers when cut may, 
after sufficient time has elapsed, reunite and function as 
before, but the destruction of the cell body leads to a 
gradual decay of all of its fibers. The brain increases in 
size nearly 30 per cent during the first year, and 10 per cent 



122 



ELEMEKTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



during each of the second and third years. '' During the 
fourth year alone it increases more than it will during all 

the rest of life, and it 
is nearly finished grow- 
ing by the sixth year. 
After eight it grows 
but little." It now in- 
creases slowly until the 
fourteenth year, and 
some investigations in- 
'^ dicate slight increase 
even to the age of thirty. 
In the average individ- 
r^prcyl ual, from fifty-five on, 
the brain begins to lose 




in size and weight. It 
reaches its maximum 
size early, but we must 
distinguish this from 
development or differen- 
tiation for the purpose 
of action or function- 
ing. For example, the 
pianist does not in- 
crease the mass of mus- 
cles in his fingers. He 
only differentiates, de- 
velops, and brings them 
under control. The fundamental muscles function first; 
then the accessory or finer ones are coordinated. This order 
of development has great educational significance. 



EiG. 11 (After Van Gehucliten) 



FtisifoTM 



Triangular Polygonal 
cell c^ll 



Pia mater 

Wfl -^ •>\ \ ■':-'■■ 
l/k iS^'>'i^Afoleailar 
layer 




Layer of 

poly 

morphotis 



Polymorphotis laye 

Fig. 12 (After Whitaker) 



123 



124 



ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



Functions of the Different Parts of the Nervous System. 

Beginning with the peripheral nervous system, we note 
that its millions of fibers are of two kinds — sensory and 
motor J or afferent and efferent. The terms '' sensory " and 

Cerebellum — Structure 



Small 
molecular- 
cell 

Large granular 
cell 



Middle layer 
^ ^or layer of 
^Purkinje*s cells 



Tendril- 
fibres 



protoplasmic 
process 

Large 

molecular 

cell 



Neurogh 
cells 




Axoneof 
J^urkinje's cell 



Molecular 
layer 



Granular 
layer 



Tig. 13 (After Whitaker) 



" afferent " are both applied to all nerves that transmit dis- 
turbances to ganglionic centers or to the central system. 
But '' afferent " is, properly speaking, a wider term inas- 
much as it includes all nerves that transmit a stimulus to 
the central system, whether such transmission affects con- 
sciousness or not. The terms '' motor " and " efferent " are 
both applied to all nerves that transmit impulses from 



THE :NERY0US system 126 

the central system to the muscles. The two different proc- 
esses, afferent and efferent, are not both accomplished 
by the same fiber. This has been thoroughly proved by 
careful experiments. A bundle of nerve fibers before en- 
tering the spinal cord divides and enters by two different 
roots, one composed of sensory and the other of motor 
nerves. Cutting the sensory root destroys feeling in the 
parts supplied by that bundle of fibers, while motion in the 
same parts remains undisturbed. Exactly the reverse is 
true when the motor root is cut. The hand may be burned 
and pain result, without any power to move the hand. 
The temporary destruction of the sensory function of sen- 
sory nerves while the motor function remains intact is now 
quite common as a result of the application of drugs. 

Again, any motor center in the brain stimulated by a 
discharge of electricity produces movement in the part of 
the body controlled by that center. Also the removal of 
certain cortical areas in the brain produces disturbances 
in the dermal sensations. 

All sensory impressions carried to the brain from the 
trunk and extremities terminate on the opposite side of 
the body from which they originate. Ingoing fibers all 
cross in the medulla ; for example, the sensory center for 
the left arm is in the cortex of the right hemisphere. 
Generally speaking, the same is true of motor discharges 
originating in the brain. They are conveyed downwards 
from the brain, and most of them cross in the medulla, 
but some cross lower down in the cord. 

The spinal cord, besides transmitting the nervous dis- 
charges to and from the brain, is a great storehouse of 
nerve batteries. These are centers of reflex action. In man 



126 ELEMEKTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

the spinal cord is largely under the control of the higher 
centers, but even here the number of reflexes is very great. 
It may also inhibit reflexes. In the lower animals these 
reflexes are more numerous, definite, complicated, and 
effective. Destroy the entire brain of a frog and its limbs 
assume a natural position and resume that position again 
when disturbed. If its body be irritated, its limbs make 
definite movements for the purpose of relief. It will lie 
flat on its abdomen, and, if kept in water, will remain sen- 
sitive to irritation for days. 

The functions of the mednlla are conduction and reflex 
action. The medulla is a solid network of fibers. Through 
it must be transmitted all nervous discharges passing to 
and fro between the brain and spinal cord. It also con- 
trols very important reflexes, especially respiration. It in 
some degree controls the sympathetic system. This in 
turn regulates the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and certain 
abdominal organs, over which we have practically no 
voluntary control. In the frog and similar animals, so 
long as the medulla remains intact, respiration and life 
may be maintained. 

The functions of the cerebellum are not well defined. In 
itself it is entirely insensible to irritation. The gradual cut- 
ting away of the cerebellum produces a corresponding loss 
of power to coordinate the muscular movements, but does 
not destroy volition and sensation. The cerebellum is neither 
the seat of sensory nor of intellectual functioning, but of 
the power to combine actions and preserve equilibrium. 

The functions of the cerebrum, or large brain, are many 
and varied. Examination of Fig. 14 will give some idea of 
its complication, but this barely suggests what must exist. 



THE NEEVOUS SYSTEM 127 

Experimentation shows (1) that the large brain is the 
seat of the special senses — sight, hearing, touch, taste, 
smell, and muscular discrimination ; (2) that it is the 
organ which receives, records, and reproduces for pur- 
poses of judgment the clear and vivid impressions ; (3) 
that the cerebral cortex is the instrument of will so far 
as deliberation is concerned ; (4) that the cerebral cortex 
is the source of the higher emotions and feelings ; (5) that 
memory and imagination have their storehouse some- 
where in the cerebrum. 

The foregoing facts, chiefly established by experimenta- 
tion on animals, find confirmation in human beings. 

(1) Inherited and abnormal defects in the cerebrum are 
generally accompanied by corresponding intellectual defi- 
ciencies and disturbances of the higher instincts. 

(2) Any severe injury to this organ instantly deprives 
man of his mental faculties. 

(3) Through the whole course of development of the 
nervous system, the size of the hemispheres, in proportion 
to the other parts, seems to bear a relation to the increase 
in general intelligence. 

(4) The fact that in certain diseased conditions indi- 
viduals may partially or completely lose many highly 
specialized functions, with slight or no other disturbance, 
indicates more detailed location of function than we have 
yet been able to prove. The powder to remember proper 
names may be lost without any other observable effect. 
I once saw a girl sixteen years old, who, by injury from 
a fall, was deprived of all power to recall proper names ; 
but she could describe any person so completely that you 
could readily identify the person from her description. 



128 eleme:n^taey psychology 

Also any one may lose the power to write, to read, to speak, 
etc., with but slight additional disorders. Such individ- 
uals simply seem to forget hoiv. Pain sensations may exist 
in parts of the body where there is entire loss of the 
touch and temperature sensations. In some cases tem- 
perature and touch sensations may remain where those 
of pain are destroyed. 

The foregoing illustrates what is known as localization 
of function. Its profound importance to psychology will at 
once be evident. The sense organs and the spinal nerves 
transmit motion to certain parts of the brain. In Pig. 9 
we have the suggestion of a great network of telegraphic 
fibers conveying messages to all the different parts of the 
brain. It is probable that the entire front portion of 
the cortex is devoted to the higher thought activities. 
Division of labor is the law of the organic, industrial, 
and intellectual worlds. 

Education of the Nervous System. How to make the 
most of this life cycle during which the nervous system 
undergoes its growth, development, and decay is the supreme 
problem of education. Upon what does our potential intelli- 
gence depend, and how can we unlock it to best advantage ? 
Attempted answers to the first question have been : 

1. Brain mass, or mass in proportion to body weight, 
was supposed to determine the possible intelligence. Great 
difficulties lie in the way of accepting this. Compara- 
tive study of nervous systems, however, shows that man's 
brain is nearly three times as heavy as that of any other 
animal approaching him in size ; but this does not hold as 
a basis of intelligence when human beings are compared 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 129 

with each other. In absolute weight the male's brain is 
heavier than the female's, but when taken in propor- 
tion to body weight the female's brain is heavier than 
the male's. 

2. Next, the proportion of gray matter to white matter 
was seized upon as the secret of intelligence. But gray 
matter simply indicates the cell body, and the white 
matter is its meduUated fibers. This relation does not 
give a satisfactory explanation. Nerve cells without their 
developed fibers would be an inadequate equipment for 
intellectual activity. 

3. Then, the number and depth of the convolutions were 
supposed to reveal the secret. But Donaldson and others 
have discredited this theory save as a possible factor in 
increasing the cortical circa, 

4. Finally, there is a tendency to consider more than 
one cause as a basis for differences in intelligence — extent 
of cortical area, variations in inherited composition of the 
nervous system, variations in relations and adjustments 
of all parts of the orga7iism. 

The very act of living is itself the beginning of the 
education of the nervous system. We have already con- 
sidered the great power of habit in determining life, and 
discovered its basis in the nervous system. Every reaction 
to new conditions is educational. It is a mistake to think 
of education chiefly as formal. 'Formal education has two 
supreme problems so far as the nervous system is con- 
cerned: (1) to avoid permanent damage by precocity, 
by overeducation, or by undue strain ; (2) to develop 
the different functions by the proper stimulus at the 
proper time. 



130 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

The premature forcing of growth is everywhere damag- 
ing. The eyes of kittens may be artificially opened 
before the normal time, and apparently with advantage 
to the animals, but later blindness and disorder follow. 
What can be done with the child may not be what should 
be done. 

But immediately the second problem confronts us. The 
nervous system develops quite early, and unless we watch 
our opportunity our efforts may lose half their efficiency. 
What a painful sight to see people struggling to learn Latin 
at thirty or thirty-five years of age ! Both the stimulus and 
the time are out of joint. Since we cannot observe these 
developing processes in the brain, our only possible guide 
is the intensity and permanence of interest and curiosity 
as the indices of these internal changes. To ignore these, 
the only signs of the order of developing brain power, is 
a sin against the growing, unfolding child, which no re- 
pentance will ever alter. Once you have passed the nascent 
stage in the growth of any power or forced another to take 
its place, nothing can atone for the loss. Forced to the 
conclusion that the developing powers of the soul are, one 
and all, dependent upon the development and functioning 
of the brain, what do those who oppose the doctrine of 
interest propose to offer us as a guide to these hidden 
inner processes ? Do they still hope to switch these brain 
processes to suit their own imposed ends ? Or have they 
developed clairvoyant powers ? 

Fatigue is a danger signal. Long fatigue changes the 
size and color of the cells ; it also produces a poisonous 
product in the nervous system. Eest and sleep are the nor- 
mal processes of restoration. In mild fatigue change of 



THE :n^eiivous system 131 

work will often bring the proper relief. Generally there is 
a tendency to run down about the middle of the afternoon, 
with a return of strength later in the day ; this is due in 
part to the great fundamental rhythms of life. After rest 
and sleep the cells are full-sized, and a much slighter 
stimulus produces a response. In starvation the nervous 
system maintains its weight at the expense of other parts 
of the body. While there is always danger in undue strain, 
yet we probably go through life with a vast amount of pos- 
sible, unutilized power. In maturity examination proves 
the presence of many undeveloped cells. 

The problem of fatigue is of great practical importance. 
Our scientific knowledge regarding the effects of adolescent 
fatigue, and regarding ability to resist it, is as yet very 
limited. Periods of rapid growth are supposed to be peri- 
ods of greatest susceptibility to fatigue, but this is still 
uncertain. Fatigue is manifested in different forms. Some 
children are by nature slow plodders and incapable of in- 
tense application. Others work in moods of intense appli- 
cation or not at all. Studies in what is known as second 
hreatli are quite suggestive. Investigations indicate a loss 
of power to resist fatigue at about eight years of age, and 
the maximum endurance at about fifteen. To learn to uti- 
lize all our possible resources in this short life cycle is the 
pressing prohlem of future science. 

How Knowledge of the Nervous System helps us to 
interpret Human Life. 1. It is evident that we came into 
the world with many preformed adjustments of the nerv- 
ous system ready to respond in a definite way to certain 
outside conditions. In the chick the preformed mechanism 



132 ELEMEKTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

is so definite that a slight stimulus is sufficient to produce 
a definite response in the act of walking, pecking, etc. 
The same thing is true of all the activities of the newborn 
child. But milder degrees of this original, inherited adjust- 
ment are present in nearly all human activity. One wTiter 
even suggests that the nervous mechanism which underlies 
our concepts of space and time may exist more or less 
adjusted before birth, and may therefore need but a small 
amount of experience to become efficient. This is a com- 
promise view of innate ideas. Be this as it may, it is evi- 
dent that the intensity of the response and the vividness 
of sensation do not correspond to the amount of motion 
received by the sense organ. They rather correspond to 
the biological adjustments in the brain. Whatever view 
we may hold concerning a specific instinctive fear of rep- 
tiles, common observation compels us to admit that here 
the response is wholly out of proportion to the compara- 
tive amount of motion received by the nervous system, or 
to the actual danger. A previous adjustment in the nerv- 
ous system is the only thing that will explain it. May 
we not also some day recognize that the preformed adjust- 
ment may be such in some people as to cause small stimuli 
to call forth monstrous crimes ? In cases of kleptomania 
and many similar conditions we have no other possible 
explanation. 

2. A knowledge of the functions of the nervous system 
explains many abnormalities and strange psychic mani- 
festations. Once the insane were supposed to be possessed 
of demons ; now we know the trouble lies in the function- 
ing of the brain processes. Those afflicted with neurasthe- 
nia, melancholia, and similar nervous disorders, look for the 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 133 

cause in conditions or in their treatment by others. This is 
due to the fact that the cause is hidden from them, deep 
in the organization and conditions of the nervous system. 
3. As we have abeady seen, the nerve paths in the brain 
furnish the only possible explanation of the formation and 
persistency of habit. The coordination of brain processes 
explains the great ease with which the acrobatic performer, 
whether animal or man, does what seems incredible. The 
brain processes have taken the place of that intense con- 
scious effort that the onlooker feels must be exerted. In 
like manner habit establishes relations in the nervous sys- 
tem that to some degree extend to the whole of human 
conduct. Even though blood and intelligence, muscle and 
will, be joined in an insoluble mystery, without some 
knowledge of the nervous system and its relation to 
mental activity we shall ever be wanting one of the 
keys to the solution of human conduct. 



CHAPTEE VII 

SE:N'SATIO]Sr AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 

SENSES 

The special senses must furnish us with all knowledge 
of the external world. Even the instincts must rely upon 
the senses for guidance. The deepest instinct needs a 
stimulus and some sense organ for its manifestation. 

The Stimulus and Nerve Action. The senses are always 
brought into action by some external or internal agencies 
which we call stimuli. A stimulus is anything that acts 
on our nervous system in such a manner and with such 
intensity as to produce either reflex action or a change in 
consciousness. In the simplest forms of sensation such con- 
sciousness may only make us aware of some disturbance 
without giving us any information about the external 
object, such as the child's earliest sensations of light, color, 
temperature, sound, taste, etc. It would seem simple and 
comprehensive to say, as some writers do, that a stimulus 
is anything that produces action in the nervous system. 
But no doubt there are countless thousands of nervous 
actions that are not discernible either in consciousness or 
by observation. Digestion ; circulation of the blood ; slight 
variations in the atmosphere and in temperature ; vibrations 
of air below 16 and above 40,000 per second, the limits 
for hearing; vibrations of ether below 400,000,000,000 

134 



sexsatioj^ a^d the senses 135 

times per second and above 800,000,000,000 times per 
second, which are the limits for color — all these and 
many more subtle forces doubtless produce and modify 
nerve action. The discovery of the unconscious influence 
of many of these forces is one of the greatest revelations 
of modern psychology, and we shall return to their impor- 
tance under another topic. Electrical changes, caused by 
an approaching storm, may be such as to produce an 
effect on some animals, and may be the cause of the pecu- 
liar sjensations that many people experience just before a 
thunderstorm. For all practical purposes we had better 
think of a stimulus as producing some observable sign of 
nervous disturbance or some conscious modification of our 
mental states. 

Sensation and Perception. A pure sensation is a rare 
thing and belongs to a stage of development so early that 
memory does not seem to retain any trace of it. Our 
sensations pass into perceptions so rapidly that we no 
longer have simple states of consciousness. We immedi- 
ately perceive the disturbance as belonging to some one of 
the senses and refer it to some perceived object. Simple 
mental states unmodified by past experiences do not exist 
so far as we are concerned. The sight of an orange, the 
sound of a bell, and all other impressions that might be 
mentioned involve sensations, but these sensations im- 
mediately pass into the perceptions orange, bell, etc. So 
popular speech is not entirely wrong in refusing to sepa- 
rate these two terms. 

Sugar may give us the sensations we designate as sweet, 
soft or hard, pleasant or unpleasant, white or brown, rough 



136 ELEMElsTTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

or smooth — all these according as the attention dwells 
now on this, now on that, quality. But even these are 
never given in consciousness independent of past experi- 
ence and of reference to some object. Yet sense percep- 
tion such as the sight of sugar, owing to past experiences, 
habit, and association of ideas, involves these complex im- 
pressions. To grasp an orange in the hand is only a small 
part of the perception. Some notion of its taste, its color, 
its interior condition, its use, its peeling and seeds, or 
absence of seeds, are included in this great complexus 
called perception. To be consistent and conform to gen- 
eral usage we should call the act of grasping the orange 
sense perception^ and this great complexus, perception. 

The Special Senses and their Adaptation to Stimuli. 

The special senses now recognized in psychology are touch, 
sight, hearing, smell, taste, muscular discrimination, with 
the probability of a temperature sense, and some indica- 
tions of special pain nerves. Even these do not seem to 
be sufficient to account for all the facts and possible sen- 
sations presented to the mind. It has recently been dis- 
covered that the inner ear contains a sense organ that 
gives us sensations about positions of the head and in- 
directly of the whole body. The semicircular canal, once 
supposed to be an organ of hearing, is now proved to be 
also an organ of motion and position. Any rapid move- 
ment of the body in a circle, suddenly stopped, gives the 
impression of movement in the opposite direction. Strange 
sensations of opposite movements are felt on the sudden 
stopping of an elevator. These are due to a change in the 
fluid in the sacs of the internal canals. 



SENSATION AND THE SENSES 137 

Are not hunger, thirst, and nausea sensations ? What 
are their sense organs ? True, we think of them as bodily 
conditions, but by what physiological process is the mind 
made aware of them ? There must be some special kind of 
sense organs for these. 

This list does not yet explain all sensations. We have 
special sensations of bodily comfort, discomfort, satisfied 
feelings resulting from a good meal, etc. These we put 
imder the general name of organic sensations. 

By gradual adaptation and specialization these senses 
have limited their response to certain conditions and cer- 
tain stimuli. The skin, as the organ of touch, responds to 
contact, heat, cold, pressure, pain, slight contact called 
tickling, and also gives the sensation of general shudder. 
The eye responds only to a limited range of vibrations of 
ether, such as above stated. The ear responds only to 
limited molecular motion or waves of air varying from 
16 to 40,000 per second. The olfactory nerve responds to 
quite a variety of small particles of external substances ; 
whether by chemical action or by some other means is yet 
one of the unsolved problems. The taste organs are excited 
only by certain chemical actions. The muscles respond to 
pull or strain. All sense organs are capable of being stim- 
ulated by electricity. Such is a rough, general classifica- 
tion of the stimuli affecting the sense organs. 

We have already called attention to the fact that, 
through a process of biological selection and heredity, the 
individual senses are adjusted to respond more readily to 
some stimuli than to others. The kind of response is not 
measured by the intensity of motion received. The amoeba 
responds to four kinds of stimuli, — electrical, chemical, 



138 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

mechanical, and thermal, — but all parts respond equally 
well. With man and the higher animals some parts are 
much more sensitive to these stimuli. Experimentation 
shows that animals often respond readily and violently to 
certain slight sounds, while they absolutely ignore others 
of much greater intensity. The slight sound or the odor 
of the rattlesnake often produces a vivid and intensive 
response. Man also reacts to certain stimuli, even of a 
comparatively slight intensity, more readily than to others. 
Every one knows something of this kind of response in 
cases of danger or fear. 

There can be no doubt that the senses have gradually 
evolved to their present wonderful perfection and speciali- 
zation. All animals and some plants possess some degree 
of sensitiveness to external disturbances. Touch is the 
oldest of all the senses ; all others appear to be modifica- 
tions of it. Sight began with only pigment spots in the 
skin. Many lower forms are devoid of the sense of sight, 
but they respond rather readily to the stimulus of light. 
Some of the lower forms will respond not only to vari- 
ations in intensity of light, but to different colors, even 
after the visual organs are cut out. In many, taste and 
smell are either entirely wanting or quite defective. Eood 
is often absorbed through the surface of the body. Taste 
organs have not yet been found in insects. Smell seems to 
have developed before taste. Some animals have senses 
unknown in man, and some possess a few of the senses 
that are common to man, developed far beyond man's. 
Probably some birds have little or no power to detect 
odors. In a general way it appears that power of hearing 
and sight increases with intelligence. Again, life may go 



SENSATION AND THE SENSES 139 

on, as in the case of Helen Keller, with the loss of these 
higher senses. In such cases it is rather mystifying to 
note how touch seems to assume, in a measure, the func- 
tions of the other senses. In some way such individuals 
may get a complete education in a variety of things, in- 
cluding the appreciation of music. 

Sensations arising from the Skin. The skin is sup- 
plied with millions of nerve endings. When these are 
disturbed by the proper stimuli and to a certain inten- 
sity, a nervous discharge is carried to the brain. As 
already stated, these discharges are classified by us as 
contact or simple touch, heat, cold, pressure, pain, tick- 
ling, and shudder. Hairs on the skin often serve as organs 
of touch, and are often more sensitive than the skin 
beneath. In some animals these tactile hairs acquire 
great length and firmness. Sea animals are often able 
to detect pressure and movements at a considerable dis- 
tance. Probably in this manner whales are protected from 
shoals. Animals that burrow have delicate organs of touch 
in the feet and nose. 

1. The sensitiveness of the skin has been minutely in- 
vestigated along two different lines. The first has to do 
with the ability to discriminate two simultaneous contacts 
of the points of a compass as two separate touches. Tliis 
ability varies considerably on different parts of the surface. 
The fineness of tliis sensibility varies from ^^ of an inch 
on the tip of the tongue to over 2^ inches on the upper 
arm, thigh, and back. 

The tip of the tongue, tips of the fingers, lips, and palms 
of the hands have a much greater sensitiveness of this 



140 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

kind than other parts of the body. There are many con- 
ditions and apphcations of drugs that increase or diminish 
this ability. 

2. Sensitiveness to pressicre is another problem. What 
is the smallest pressure that will produce a sensation on 
different parts of the body ? What is the smallest differ- 
ence in such pressure that can be detected ? These ques- 
tions have been thoroughly investigated. The general 
results show that the forehead, temples, back of the hand, 
and forearm are most sensitive to pressure. These parts 
detect about .03 of a grain or .002 of a gram, while the 
nose, chin, and abdomen detect only about .6 to .7 of a 
grain. You will notice that the parts having the greatest 
sensitiveness to pressure are not the same as those havmg 
greatest discrimination. 

3. Weber's Law. What part of any given stimulus pro- 
ducing a sensation must be subtracted or added so that 
we may realize that there has been a change ? This is our 
second question in another form, and its answer is known 
as Weber's Law. It applies to all the senses. Its general 
principle is that, to increase or to diminish the intensity 
of any given sensation so as to be just able to note the 
difference, we must each time add or subtract a certain 
per cent of the present stimulus. This constant ratio of in- 
crease or decrease of stimulus to produce a just observable 
change in sensation varies for the different senses. For 
sight it is approximately one one-hundredth of the given 
intensity of the light ; for muscular sensations, about one 
twentieth ; for pressure, noise, and temperature, about one 
third of the given stimulus. This means that a hght of fifty 
candle power must be increased one-half candle power 



SENSATION AND THE SENSES 141 

before we are aware of the change. A weight of twenty 
pounds must be increased one pound. A pressure of six 
pounds must be increased two pounds before we detect 
the change. This law does not hold with any great accu- 
racy for sensations of a low or high intensity. 

Fechner, building on this law, tried to find out what 
relation exists between our judgment of the degree of 
increase of the intensity of a sensation and the actual 
increase of the outside stimulus. If we declare, for example, 
that the temperature of water is i, 1, i-, or twice as hot as 
a previous given sensation, what change has actually taken 
place in the temperature ? Similar tests have been made 
for all the senses. The uncriticised, psychological judgment 
asserts that they are essentially the same. But there is a 
great divergence, and experiments prove a tendency to a 
constant ratio, especially so long as we avoid the high and 
low intensities. Fechner's statement of this relation is 
that the sensation vccries in an arithmetical ratio, while the 
stimulus varies in a geometrical ratio. A little knowledge 
of mathematics wdll show you how wide this divergence 
soon becomes. While we cannot mathematically measure 
our feelings of joy and sadness, yet it is probably the 
indefinite operation of this law that causes serious mis- 
judgments in these lines. I may be happy over the pos- 
session of one thousand dollars and probably think that 
ten thousand dollars would make me ten times as happy. 
Or I may have endured a small calamity, and, comparing 
my depressed feeling with that of individuals whose stim- 
ulus is many times greater so far as outside influences 
are concerned, I am amazed to know how they can bear 
their condition. I find myself very cold at a. temperature 



142 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

of ten degrees below zero ; I am told of people who en- 
dure sixty degrees below zero, and I shake my head in 
despair. In these and thousands of other cases I am trying 
to measure the future or foreign sensation by the absolute 
increase of stimulus. 

4. Other sensations of the shin. The popular notion of 
touch also includes pain, temperature, pressure, and even 
the muscular sense. These have lately been differentiated. 
Specialists claim that pain may be destroyed in any given 
part of the body by disease or application of drugs, while 
susceptibility to sensations of heat and cold remain. Sen- 
sations of pain may be destroyed while those of touch re- 
main intact. At least two normal examples showing the 
independence of touch and pain may be mentioned. Con- 
tact with the cornea of the eye gives no touch sensation, 
but pain. Piercing odors produce pain without touch. 

The areas of greatest sensitiveness to touch are not 
identical with those of greatest sensitiveness to tem- 
perature. We may test the skin and find that the points 
of greatest sensitiveness to cold are not those of greatest 
sensitiveness to warmth. The cold spots, at least, are 
easily discernible simply by passing a steel pen lightly 
over the skin. 

5. The muscular sense is, in general, confused with that 
of pressure. But this confusion is probably due to the fact 
that there exists a group of sensations from joints, tendons, 
muscles, and sensory nerves, together with motor sensa- 
tions. It is now some forty years since sensory nerve 
cells were discovered in the muscles and in the tendons. 
The surface of the joints is furnished with nerve cells. 
Electrical stimulation of the joints modifies our estimation 



SENSATION AND THE SENSES 143 

of weight and movement. Thus we have muscular, ten- 
donous, and articular sensations joined in our judgment 
of weiglit and movement. The general term '' kinesthetic " 
is applied to this group of sensations. 

For example, a three-pound weight resting on the hand 
placed on a table gives quite a different sensation than if 
it be held by a handle or string and suspended in the air. 
It will also seem heavier if lifted slowly than if lifted 
rapidly. It will also seem heavier if, while lifting it 
with one hand, the other hand be clenched tightly. A 
combination of pressure and this group of sensations 
known as the kinesthetic gives us the best knowledge 
of weight. Again, touch is not the only factor in telling 
us the position of our limbs. The muscular sense plays 
an important part. 

6. The education of the sense of touch is possible to an 
extent scarcely credible. The blind may be educated to 
read with ease, rapidity, and accuracy, either through the 
fingers, or in case the hands are wanting, through the lips 
or toes. The blind learn to distinguish color, and develop a 
marvelous sense of direction and of the nearness of objects. 
Helen Keller received an all-round college education 
through the sense of touch. But the education of touch, 
while most manifest in the blind, is not limited to them. 
Many men develop the ability to shave without a mirror 
and with a common razor, even on a moving train. There 
once lived in Denver a man without arms, who could shave 
without a mirror and with an unprotected razor, by tak- 
ing the razor between his toes. Instrumental musicians 
have a highly developed sense of touch and muscular 
movement in the hands and arms. 



144 ELEMEKTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Sensations of Taste and Smell. The statement that pure 
water is tasteless makes us wonder if we have ever tasted 
pure water. The trouble lies in the fact that what we call 
taste is really a combination of taste, smell, sight, touch, 
pressure, and temperature sensations. Pure water gives 
us the sensations of touch and temperature. There are 
only four distinct taste sensations ; namely, salt, sweet, sour, 
bitter. Some writers add alkaline and metalhc. These sen- 
sations are probably caused by some kind of chemical action. 
But the possible mixtures and different degrees of intensity, 
combined with the great number of touch, smell, pressure, 
and temperature sensations, seem to give us a great variety 
of taste sensations, such as those from the different kinds 
of vegetables, meats, liquids, and the various possible com- 
binations. The loss of smell has a marked effect on taste. 
Note the difference in the ordinary taste of an onion and 
the sensation if tasted while you hold the nose and cease 
to breathe. Through suggestion sight also has an influence 
on taste. The attractive appearance of candies, foods, etc. 
modifies our notion of their taste. The sense of taste is 
well-developed at birth, but is often quite defective in 
feeble-minded children. 

Sensations of Smell are exceedingly Numerous. Just 
how they are produced we cannot say. Inconceivably small 
particles probably exist in the air. Air containing odors 
may be passed through a tube well packed with cotton 
wool, which retains all particles larger than ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ of an 
inch, and still the odor will remain. A grain of musk will 
fill the air of a room with odor for years and still not lose 
weight that can be detected. It is said that ^ qooooooo ^^ 



sexsatio:n" A:NrD the senses 145 

a grain of musk and ^goooVooooo g^^^ ^^ mercaptan 
will each produce a distinct sensation of smell. 

Great differences exist in regard to disagreeable odors. 
What is intolerable to some people is even pleasant to 
others. Certain animals spend their life amid odors that 
would be very painful to us. The cause of this exceedingly 
wide variance in regard to agreeable and disagreeable odors 
is unknown. 

The possible development of the sense of taste and of 
smell is far greater than we would suppose. The highest 
development of taste is found among the wine tasters. 
Here the power is developed to a striking degree of accu- 
racy and fineness. 

Many animals far surpass man in the power of smell. 
The range is widened in man, but the power is diminished. 
The dog tracks the wild animal many hours after its pas- 
sing by, and scents his master's trail on the pavement 
amidst thousands of others. It is the test of self-preserva- 
tion that tells how far any sense may be developed. The 
Indians of Peru can scent a stranger while he is yet afar 
off, and tell if he be an Indian or a negro. The Arabs of 
Sahara smell fire at a distance of thirty miles or more. 
Tobacco buyers cultivate a keen sense of smell. The 
blind exhibit marvelous power in this line. A girl in 
Massachusetts was able to recognize persons she had 
met by the smell of their gloves. This girl by the 
same power was said to be able even to sort the clothes 
as they came from the laundry. Helen Keller detects 
an approaching storm, tells the time of day, knows the 
nature of the house she enters, recognizes individuals, all 
by the sense of smell. 



146 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Sensations of Hearing. Hearing was once the primary 
means of communicating knowledge from one person to 
another, of learning all languages, and of communicating 
thoughts. The two ears do not give us two simultaneous 
sensations, but contrast of the difference in intensity is the 
chief means in helping us to locate the direction of sound, 
which is never very accurate. By means of the intensity 
of sound and of various apperceptive ideas we judge of dis- 
tance. Just now I heard a clock striking in a distant 
room ; but, had I judged it to be a bell, the faint stroke 
would have caused me to locate it far away. 

The ear is an exceedingly complicated organ, but we 
shall not concern ourselves with the anatomy of it. The 
external conditions for producing sound are simple and 
well known. Longitudinal periodic vibrations of the mole- 
cules of air are the sole conditions. If these vibrations 
are irregular, the result is what we call noise. If they are 
regular, we have tones or music. The range of vibra- 
tions that may be heard is usually between 16 per second 
and 48,000 per second. Some writers even give 50,000. 
Some ears are better developed than others, but the 
great majority of musical experiences are between 64 
and 5000 per second. 

Over 500 simple noises may be detected and about 
11,000 different tones. This number may be greatly va- 
ried according to our conception of simple and compound 
tones. A common noise usually contains several simple 
noises and many elements of tone. Tones are also accom- 
panied by some noise. The detection of these elements is 
in either case dependent largely upon training and the 
psychological attitude. The poet often hears music in the 



SEXSATIOX AXD THE SENSES 147 

running brook, in the wind whistling through the trees, 
and in the roaring ocean, where others hear only distress- 
ing noises. 

Sound has four distinct characteristics : 

1. Intensity, or loudness, which depends upon the ampli- 
tude of vibration. The prongs of a tuning fork pressed 
together gently give a low sound ; the same fork pressed 
harder changes the amplitude of vibration and produces 
a louder sound. 

2. The pzYc/^, which is determined by the numler of 
vibrations per second. When the pitch is very high the 
effect is unpleasant or even painful. 

3. The quality, or timbre, which is due to the source 
from which the vibrations come. For example, the same 
pitch from a violin, a drum, a flute, a piano, a horn, the 
human voice, each has a quality which enables us to dis- 
tinguish it from the others. Of course in some cases a 
certain amount of training is necessary. Some writers 
designate pitch as the quality of a tone sensation. It is 
the shrillness or mellowness that constitutes the quahty. 
Pitch may affect these qualities by varying the over- 
tones. By shght variation in degrees of intensity we may 
pass from one color to another almost by impercep- 
tible changes. In like manner we may pass from one 
pitch to another if only the instruments are properly 
arranged. Aside from the variation of the overtones pitch 
is variation in intensity. 

4. Finally, we have already seen that the relation the 
vibrations bear to each other classifies the sound as noise 
or music. The psychological and educational value of hear- 
ing as compared with sight is usually underestimated. 



148 



ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



Sensations of Sight. The eye is one of the most delicate 
and wonderful organs of the body. Some of the lower ani- 
mals having no eyes, have spots that are sensitive to light. 
Sensations of sight are supposed to be produced by vibra- 
tions of the ether.i The range of such vibrations that may 
produce a sensation is between 400,000,000,000 per second 
and 912,000,000,000 per second. The qualities of visual 



Composite 

Beam of 

Ether Waves 




Vibrations ^ Ultra Red Rays 

0/400 > Temperature 
and Jess j Stimuli 

(B) 450. Red 

(C) 472. Orange 

(D) 526. Yelloiv 

(E) 589. Green 

(F) 640. Blue 



(G) 722. Bidigo 
(H) 790. Violet J 
Vibrations ^ 



Light Rays 
Retinal 
Stimuli 



O/800 
and more 



Ultra Violet Rays 
Chemical 
Stimuli 



Fm. 15 (After "VVitmer) 

sensation are very numerous. The colors of the spectrum 
and the number of billion vibrations per second necessary 
to produce them you will see in Fig. 15. In order they 
are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. 

1. There are many other color sensations for which we 
have names, but there are also thousands of sensations for 
which we do not have any names. It is said that great 
artists have distinguished 30,000 different shades of color. 
More than 700 shades can be distinguished in passing from 
intense white to intense black. A well-known German 

^ Some recent investigations seem destined to change all our views 
about ether. See Bragg, Campbell, Einstein, in index. 



SENSATION AXD THE SENSES 149 

writer suggests that there are perhaps a million color sen- 
sations. The dogma that '' if you know a thing you can 
tell it " is quite absurd when put to the psychological test. 
Natives of Central Africa are practically limited to two 
words for color — red and black, but it is hardly conceiv- 
able that this is the limitation of their possible color sen- 
sations. I once witnessed a magnificent thunderstorm and 
cloud effect, high on the mountains, in which I was con- 
scious of a great number of distinct sensations of shades, 
colors, and combinations, most of which I was powerless 
to express in any way. 

When we are told in j^^^ysics that black and wliite are 
not colors, because the one is the absence of all colors and 
the other the presence of all colors, we must not consider 
this a true psychological statement. The question with us 
is not one of composition, but whether the sensation has a 
quality of its ov:n icliicli v:e call hlack or ivliite. For psy- 
chology they are colors as much as red and green. 

2. Complementary colors. Colors may be combined in 
almost endless varieties. Certain colors when combined 
produce white or grayish-white. These are called comple- 
mentary colors. The chief combinations are red and hlue- 
green, yelloio and indigo-UuCy green and purple, hlue and 
orange, violet and yelloio-green. Such effect cannot be 
secured by mixing these colors in paints, but by rapid 
motion on the color mixer. Complementary colors placed 
side by side in a stationary position have the effect of 
intensifying each other. 

3. Color-hlindness has considerable psychological and 
educational value. It also presents some interesting prob- 
lems in heredity. Our color sense has been developed 



150 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

gradually, and is susceptible to extensive education. But 
lack of education in discriminating and classifying tints, 
degrees of saturation, and intensities of color must not 
be confused with color-hlindness, the fundamental form 
of which is a difficulty to distinguish red froin greeriy 
and is called red-green blindness. Bhie-yellow blindness 
and blue-violet blindness are less common forms. Color- 
blind people do not always confuse these colors, but 
they always fail to distinguish red and gree7i more fre- 
quently than the average individual. The brightness of 
the colors plays an important part with some color- 
blind individuals. A great variety of individual varia- 
tions has been found. 

Color-blindness has been proved to exist among some 
animals. About one in twenty men and probably not more 
than one in a thousand women are in some degree color- 
blind. It is transmitted by heredity, but in a very interest- 
ing way. Neither the disorder nor the potentiality to 
transmit it to others is inherited by a son from a father 
having the disorder; but the daughter inherits not the 
actual disorder but the potentiality or possibility of trans- 
mitting it to any male children in actuality and to female 
children in potentiality. A color-blind father who has 
sons but no daughters thereby cuts short this hereditary 
disorder, for he does not himself transmit the potentiality 
to his sons, but only to his daughters. The daughters of 
the color-blind father are not color-blind, but they inherit 
the potentiality to transmit it to their sons, should they 
have any. There are all degrees of color-blindness, even to 
absolute color-blindness in a few cases. The cause is un- 
known ; it is incurable. 



SE:^SATio:Nr and the senses 151 

A most remarkable case of heredity and sight-variation 
is wliat is known as '' night-blindness." One remarkable 
example of this disorder has been traced through nine gen- 
erations. This defect renders the patient entirely blind in 
dull light. Otherwise he is perfectly normal. Night-blind- 
ness is just the opposite of color-blindness in one point — 
only the individuals actually having the disorder can 
transmit it. 

4. The world of vision includes the rather wide range 
of knowledge which we seem to take in through the eye. 
It comprises (1) perception of individual objects ; (2) the 
color of objects ; (3) the shape and size of objects ; (4) per- 
ceptions of solidity ; (5) estimates of distance ; (6) lumi- 
nosity or intensity of color tone ; (f ) motion of objects in 
space ; (8) smoothness and roughness. 

In the development of these concepts apperception is 
an important factor. This is w^ell established by surgical 
operations which have given sight to several individuals 
born blind. If we ever knew^, we have long since forgotten 
how we acquired the world of vision and all its percep- 
tions. Through the unconscious process of apperception 
we may now use many transferred perceptions that never 
originated under sight. One of the latest and most inter- 
esting of these cases is that reported by Dr. Ayers con- 
cerning a man who first used his sight at forty. He had 
developed marvelous skill with his other senses. Now he 
must acquire this new world of vision and all its percep- 
tions by conscious comparison. Distance, size of objects, 
shape and form, motion, especially the number of objects 
before him, all are great puzzles to him. Objects have only 
extension and do not appear differentiated. He was shown 



152 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

a ball and a square box. He could not tell the shape until 
he placed his hands on them. A stick twelve inches 
long and one inch thick he called four inches and the 
size of his finger. '' It took four or five trials to learn 
to count one, then two, and finally five." A very excep- 
tional thing is recorded of him — that in the color test 
he named red, yelloio, green, and bine correctly without 
touch. The details of this case are exceedingly valuable 
for psychology. 

Now we can return to the field of vision with new light 
on the subject. The sensation of oneness arises mainly from 
the habitual use of certain areas of the retinae. Touch plays 
a large part in the formation of most visual perceptions. 
By apperception these perceptions are gradually and un- 
consciously transferred to sight. The comparison of even 
minute muscular efforts in the eye is another source. The 
size of objects primarily depends upon the size of the 
retinal image, but this in turn depends upon the distance. 
Judgment of distance, in a measure, depends upon the 
degree of muscular effort to converge — the nearer the 
object the greater is the effort. Our estimate of distance 
also depends upon dimness or definiteness of outline. Ob- 
jects seen in a fog appear immensely large. Intervening 
objects increase our estimate of distance and hence of size. 
The full moon at the horizon appears larger than at the 
zenith because intervening objects increase our notion 
of distance. The inexperienced have little knowledge of 
distance at sea. Should the distance of any object, such 
as a bird in air or a ship, be misrepresented to us by one 
who we have reason to beheve knows, we are sure to mis- 
judge its size accordingly. Movement of an object in space 



SEXSATIOX AXD THE SENSES 153 

is estimated from the movement of the image on the retina 
and from the movement of the eyes in following it. This 
last factor causes near objects to appear to move much 
more rapidly tlian distant ones. 

These examples and hundreds that might be given all 
show hoio the mind constantly cooperates loith sights ttncon- 
scionsly using the great storehouse of all its past experience, 
so that in the last analysis it is impossible to say vjhat he- 
longs to mere sensation and what to the influence of the 
mind in the use of apperceptive ideccs. 

Reaction Time. The entire time that elapses from the 
moment a stimulus strikes the nerve ending until there 
is some response is called reaction time. It has been the 
subject of much experimentation in connection with sen- 
sation. This time is naturally divided into four parts. 
Suppose the right toe is touched by a current of electricity 
and we are requested to move it as soon as we get the shock. 
(1) There is time occupied in conveying this nervous dis- 
charge to the brain. This can be measured, for it moves at 
the average rate of about one hundred twenty feet per 
second. (2) There is time required for the mind to per- 
ceive or become conscious of this disturbance. (3) Some 
time is required to issue the proper command so as not to 
move the wrong foot ; we may call this decision time. 
(4) Some time is necessary to carry back the impulse to 
the muscles of the toe. 

It is quite evident that conditions will vary the re- 
action time : 

1. It will vary with the intensity of the stimulus, all 
things else being equal. 



154 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

2. It will vary with the different senses. 

3. The degree of attention will vary the reaction time. 

4. The physical condition of the individual will affect it. 

5. Fatigue will lengthen it. 

6. Stimulants will shorten it at first and lengthen 
it later. 

7. Complication of stimuli will lengthen it. Suppose 
we are told to move the right foot for an electric shock, 
or the left for a flash of light. Evidently both number two 
and three of the reaction time will be lengthened. Such 
complications may go on almost indefinitely. 

8. Conflicting ideas prolong the time. Taking it out 
of the field of laboratory experimentation, suppose you 
call me a liar. With no conflicting ideas the reaction 
may soon come ; but if the pohce be standing by, it may 
be delayed. 

9. Li every line practice or habit shortens the re- 
action time. 

10. General temperament or mental disposition of the 
individual will vary the reaction time wherever decision 
is necessary. 

'' How many things are herein mentioned as varying the 
reaction time ? " Suppose this question be asked of several 
students, and suppose they know equally well and are 
equally attentive, the response will not be given with 
equal promptness in all cases. In some of the investiga- 
tions made on school children, results strongly indicate 
that rapidity and accuracy of physical movement are ac- 
companied by a corresponding rapidity and accuracy of 
mental response. On this mental and physical relation 
Locke defended the dance. 



sexsatio:n" axd the senses 155 

Subjective Sensations. By this term we mean actual 
sensations that have no external stimulus corresponding 
thereto. Taste sensations may be produced by electrical 
stimulus and by mechanical pressure on parts of the taste 
organ. It is also difficult to separate the external from the 
internal causes of sensation. Certain smell sensations are 
excited by electrical stimulation ; but even aside from this, 
purely subjective sensations of smell are quite frequent. 
This is common among nervous people. They frequently 
declare the presence of various odors that no one else can 
detect. This may happen to any one occasionally. Sugges- 
tion and autosuggestion, as we shall see later, are powerful 
factors in producing these sensations. The suggestion at 
the table that pure meat is tainted may produce the sub- 
jective sensation in all present. Du Bois gives the case of 
a man who, after a certain fall, always smelled bad odors. 
Dr. Frederic Burk, who had abandoned the habit of smok- 
ing, told me that the taste and smell of tobacco smoke 
were very distinct whenever he had a cold. 

Eitter found that electric currents excite sounds. Eing- 
ing and buzzing in the ears are common sensations of irri- 
table and nervously exhausted individuals. Besides these 
we have the subjective sensations of sounds and noises, 
due to illusions and hallucinations. These, together with 
the illusions of sight, will be presented under the section 
on illusions and hallucinations. 

Quality and Intensity of Sensations and of Sense Per- 
ceptions. Properly speaking, no sensation can have quahty 
save as it partakes of perception. We have already given 
some attention to intensity in considering Weber's Law. 



156 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

1. The quality is that characteristic that causes us to 
differentiate a sensation from others and give it a name, 
designating such differences as red, blue, green, sunset, 
sour, rough, smooth, sound of a bell, violin, etc. The fol- 
lowing are factors in determining quality. 

a. The largest differentiation is due to the different 
senses. In a normal condition we do not confuse sight 
and sound, taste and smell, touch and temperature. 

l. Changing the point of application of the stimulus 
changes the quality. This in particular covers the many 
qualities of touch as applied to our own bodies. If you 
press gently on my ankle, and equally on any other part 
of the body, something about the sensations enables me 
to properly locate the two. As may be seen from facts 
stated on page 139, the body is very sensitive to the 
quality of touch. The sense of localization is limited in 
the newborn child but gradually becomes more developed. 
Finally it becomes so habitual that in those who have lost 
a leg or an arm a stimulus of cold to the old nerve ends 
appears to come from the hand or foot. The habit of 
localization continues. 

c. Different kinds of stimuli applied to the same sense 
organ will produce a difference in quahty. Between my 
forefinger and thumb I may pass an indefinite number of 
objects, each giving me a different quality. Here past per- 
ception, transferred perception, apperception, and even the 
reasoning process become helpful allies. As I now look at 
my bookcase one of the qualities of that visual sensation 
is smoothness. But this was originally acquired by the 
sense of touch. Hence it is a transferred perception. This 
process is quite common. I tap a dish and I know by the 



SENSATION AND THE SENSES 15T 

quality of the sound that it is a hroken dish. We have 
already seen how extensively taste borrows from smell, 
temperature, and touch. 

d. Fatigue produced by prolonged application of the 
stimulus may change the quality. A five-pound pressure 
on the tip of the finger, if much prolonged, will change the 
quahty of sensation. In five minutes an outstretched arm 
will give more than one quahty of sensation. Color sensa- 
tions are greatly affected by continuous stimulation. 

e. We have already seen that sensations have an emo- 
tional quality of pleasure or pain. 

/. If the stimulus be constant, or periodic and contin- 
ually changing, the quality of sensation is modified. This 
is especially marked in the periodic stimulation by colors. 

g. The relation of one stimulus to another may modify 
the quality. All sensations differ because of their relation 
to others. Color contrast gives us some good examples. 
Successive tasting of different substances produces great 
variation and inaccuracy. If the hand be held in cold 
water a few minutes, and then placed in water of ordinary 
temperature, it feels warm. 

h. Occasionally a stimulus to one sense will produce dis- 
tinct sensations in some other sense. With some people 
high notes give distinct sensations of certain colors. In- 
tense colors sometimes produce a sensation of temperature 
or of faint sounds. The names of the numerals produce 
the sensation of a number form. Niiiriber forms exist in 
about one out of every fifteen individuals. They are mental 
numeral frames, which may be of almost any shape and 
size. Frequently the sound of the numbers 4, 5, 6, etc. pro- 
duce regularly the visual image of some object, as square 



158 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

box, fat duck, etc. A few individuals have certain color sen- 
sations accompanying the letters of the alphabet. Professor 
Jastrow has printed a page colored as it appeared to one man. 
These variations occur in otherwise perfectly normal people. 

2. The intensity of a sensation includes all variations 
which do not produce a feeling for a necessity to change the 
name. An object may be smooth and less smooth, but 
finally there is at least a noticeable necessity for some other 
name. The color red may be weakened in its intensity 
until there is felt a necessity for some other name to 
designate it. That moment the quality changes whether we 
have any name for it or not. This means a change, — a 
transition in consciousness. 

The intensity is modified by (1) increase or decrease in 
stimulus ; (2) continuation of stimulus to a certain point ; 
(3) extent of surface stimulated ; (4) physical and mental 
condition of individual ; (5) suggestion and attention ; (6) 
contrast. A certain intensity of stimulus is necessary to 
arouse any of the sense organs to action. This is called 
the threshold of sensation. Then under Weber's Law we 
noted that a certain per cent of the present stimulus must 
be added or subtracted before we realize in consciousness 
that the intensity has changed. Nervous or physically 
or mentally fatigued persons exaggerate the intensity of a 
stimulus as compared with normal individuals. Suggestion 
that it is twenty degrees below zero undoubtedly modifies 
the intensity of the sensation in some degree for most 
people. Attention to toothache, headache, a boil, etc. un- 
doubtedly modifies the intensity of pain. The contrast of 
a hot day with a cold one, of a sad state of mind with a 
happy one, modifies the intensity. 



SENSATION AND THE SENSES 159 

It is in color that quantity and quality of sensation are 
most difficult to distinguish, and this probably is due in 
part to the poverty of our language. Some writers add 
duration, extension, and clearness as distinct characteris- 
tics of sensation. 

Practical Significance of these Facts. We no longer 
believe that knowledge gained through the senses is " of the 
earth earthy," and that there is some higher source which 
invaKdates this knowledge. If it is knowledge of a low 
order, then let us be humble, for this is the only source 
of knowledge we have. Everything depends upon the 
proper physical condition, education, and constant use of 
the senses. Such knowledge is the only material for the 
use of imagination, memory, and reason. There is no other 
road to intellectual salvation and safety. All education 
that is not founded on what the senses furnish is vain 
show and empty words. 

A^T.iat practical suggestions and guidance for the expla- 
nation of human conduct can we draw from the foregoing 
facts about the senses, sensation, and sense perception ? 

1. We may expect all the higher powers of man to vary 
and be defective in proportion as these primary sources 
vary or are defective. Give all the credit possible to logic, 
but it must be admitted that defective tlionglit-poiver goes 
back of formal logic. Eraser emphasized the fact that 
thought may be carried on in terms of several sense 
images, and this often leads to confusion and apparent 
contradictions among certain philosophical writers. The 
employment of visual images, for example, may bring pre- 
cision, but at the cost of limitations. One finds a good 



160 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

example of this in the confusion produced by Spencer's 
test of truth as being the conceivable. But there is a 
multitude of simpler things that cause variation in the 
mental world. 

In the first place, the physiological condition of the 
senses is rarely ever the same, and in many cases diverges 
to an extent that makes a like content impossible. The 
extreme forms of such variations produce illusions of a 
marked character. Then, we have seen that many condi- 
tions vary the quality and intensity of sense perceptions, 
and these conditions will seldom be the same for any two 
individuals. Again, great differences exist even in the nor- 
mal power of the senses. Finally, the opportunity or lack 
of opportunity for proper exercise of the senses, and the 
directing power of education, create different mental worlds 
for us. Is it at all remarkable that there are so many 
different interpretations and reasoned conclusions concern- 
ing this world that surrounds each of us ? What is called 
scientific observation and experimentation is the only pos- 
sible compass to guide us in this foggy sea, and that can 
never be final. 

2. The foregoing facts should teach us the necessity for 
the proper care of the sense organs. A good physiology 
should be consulted. Some defects are readily removed 
by the skillful surgeon; a vast number of minor defects 
may be prevented by proper hygienic care. 

3. Extensive and early cultivation of the senses is abso- 
lutely imperative. This fills the mind's storehouse for future 
use. The great and the small, all are alike limited by it. 
All learning is in some way a response to the conditions 
in which we live. The value of proper sensory and motor 



se:n^satio:n' axd the senses 161 

activity cannot be overestimated. We early move out of 
simple sensation into sense perception ; then to observa- 
tion, which is sense perception guided by definite purpose ; 
finally we have experimentation requiring well-trained 
perceptive powers. 

There are some important factors in the education of 
sense perception, especially under the form of observation. 
Eead emphasizes the infiuence of interest, habit, and ex- 
pectation. We soon acquire certain habits of seeing, hear- 
ing, and all similar reactions, which in a large measure 
determine all future observation. These habits may be for 
or against us. They may become so strong as to deceive us 
into thinking we get sense perceptions when we do not. 
The constant appearance of Mr. Jones in a given place in 
church may become so habitual that his absence may not 
be noted, and afterwards we may be willing to argue that 
he was there. Through habit the expert observer marches 
on to his destiny with ease and accuracy. 

Interest is a powerful element in determining both the 
vividness and the extent of our sense perceptions. Hence 
wide interest should be cultivated ; if this is not done, 
habit will lead to a narrowing of our interests and cause 
other impressions to be ignored. We have already noted 
how animals come to ignore even strong stimuli that are 
not of interest in the way of self-protection. So we soon 
drift into responding to certain classes of stimuli and ignor- 
ing or only imperfectly responding to others. Keen are 
the observations of men where their personal interest or 
safety is mvolved. 

Mental prepossession or expectation, while related to 
habit and interest, is not entirely caused by them. For 



162 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

example, the many illusions and deceptions produced by 
the magician on the stage are largely dependent upon 
mental prepossession and inertia. This is accomplished 
mainly by suggestion, which plays a large part in all our 
sense perceptions whenever directed by another. '' The 
Garden of the Gods" is a good example of perverted 
sense perception due to the ingenious suggestions of guides, 
concerning noses, faces, hands, heads of lions, etc. in the 
water-worn rocks. Some writers would have us believe 
that these three factors of interest, habit, and expectation 
are only different forms of attention, but we prefer to 
believe that they are the stuff out of which attention 
is made. 



CHAPTER VIII 
RELATION AXD ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS 

Few things create more general interest than the appar- 
ently strange relation of our daily flow of ideas. How is it 
that the word " whistle " may suggest to one mind a mouth 
whistle made from the bark of a piece of wood six inches 
long, to others, according to circumstances and experience, 
a locomotive, a street car, a steamboat, a foghorn, a story, 
New Year's night, a bare piece of metal through which 
steam escapes, a runaway horse, a railroad wreck, a song, 
a child in danger, Santa Glaus, etc. The word "play" wiU 
suggest or be associated with an indefinite number of 
things in different minds. Some think of games; others 
of pieces of literature ; others of things apparently unre- 
lated. The name " Isaac " may recaU only a printed word, 
a preacher, a merchant, a book some one gave you, a 
wrong done you, the " Merchant of Venice," or a father 
offering up his son as a sacrifice. What are the laws that 
govern these associations and relations of ideas ? 

The difficulty in studying association is that so much 
is intentionally and unintentionally suppressed and so 
modified by an oral record of it, that there is little agree- 
ment with the original. Since I have been at work on this 
book a thousand isolated, quite unimportant, long-past, 
and presumably forever-lost incidents, scenes, dreams, etc. 
have crossed the threshold of consciousness and forcibly 

163 



164 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

interrupted the direction of the stream of thought. When 
I am intent on some line of thought, whence come these 
strangers that seem to play ball in the background of con- 
sciousness ? Why are they sometimes so monstrous that 
I am shocked at their presence ? Observation of our own 
stream of thought will soon reveal the presence of what 
appears to be a subcurrent. Once while speaking to a 
small group concerning this subject I suddenly detected 
in the undercurrent of consciousness the thought, " What 
if I had been the fellow who killed Garfield ? " On one 
occasion I asked a class of fifty to observe for one-half 
minute what passed in consciousness. Unexpectedly I 
then began to ask them to relate everything that had 
entered the field of consciousness. Some related an 
astonishingly long list and stopped, saying it had been 
impossible to heep up with their thoughts and that many 
had escaped them. One girl, after much hesitation, said, 
" To tell the truth, I spent most of the time trying to 
keep from thinking of things I would not wish to tell." 
I then asked how many had discovered in consciousness 
something they would not wish to tell. This condition 
was almost unanimous. Into the most serious moments 
of life creep strange gods. Why do these unbidden guests 
of all descriptions and characters continually come and 
go ? Whether in deepest sadness or supremest joy, past 
regrets and future fears knock at the door. 

Our consciousness is to our stream of thought like an 
observer on a winding river. He can see but little of 
whence he came or whither he goes. Knowest thou 
whither thy thoughts will bear thee the next moment? 
There are laws of mental life that determine the direction 



EELATIOX AND ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS 165 

of this stream of ideas, but their operations and causes pre- 
cede the entrance of ideas into the stream of consciousness 
and we really have no conscious power over them. Present 
thinking depends largely on past conditions. The order of 
our mental world depends more on the inner , hidden nature 
of the individual than upon outer conditions. This inner 
nature has been determined chiefly by heredity, early ex- 
perience, and training, and is the chief deciding influence. 

The Rapidity of Thought has attracted popular attention 
from remote times. But our increased knowledge of this 
rapidity makes it still more wonderful. In one half minute 
I have just glanced over a new page of printed matter. A 
friend then questions me concerning the contents. In some 
way I have taken note of nearly all of its four hundred 
words. But these words are made up of characters that 
must be noted in some way. A record of all thoughts in- 
augurated in tliis brief time w^ould fill several pages. Like 
a flash and unexpectedly the scenes of a whole day's journey 
in Alaska pass in consciousness. In a few minutes we can 
rehearse in our mind a speech of great length and be sure 
it is all there. Many experiments show that simple associ- 
ation time is a very small part of a second, but even this 
time would be greatly reduced could we take into account 
every association that actually passes in consciousness. 

Having used James's classic term, stream of thought, 
which Morgan calls wave of consciousness, we must specify 
some of its characteristics. If we examine this stream of 
thought going on within us we will find : 

1. That it seems to ie continux)us. On waking from sleep 
we seem to take up the process where we left off. Long 



166 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

loss of consciousness due to anaesthetics or hypnotism, lapses 
of personality due to disease, or alternating personalities 
continuiag many months are all followed, on return to 
normal condition, by a consciousness of continuity. The 
most noted case of careful scientific record is that of 
Dr. Hanna, who lost consciousness on being thrown from 
his buggy. Eestoration of consciousness found him a child 
with no memory of his past existence. Some two months 
after this he awoke from a short sleep and immediately 
asked where he was, and inquired about his horse and 
buggy. He had made the union with his old personality. It 
is this consciousness of continuity that gives jow personality. 

2. That it is ever changing. This needs no demonstra- 
tion for any one who has even the slightest ability to note 
what is going on within. 

3. That we are contimtally interested in some parts of 
this stream more than in others. At any passing moment 
the stream of consciousness carries a multitude of diverse 
ideas. As I now write I am primarily interested in the flow 
of ideas connected with this topic, but, all the while, the 
sighing of the wind, the roar of the water, the towering 
mountains in front of me, the waving trees, the passing 
shadows, the lowing of cattle — these and many more, to 
say nothing of the bodily sensations, are all borne along 
on the stream of consciousness. Now that I have singled 
them out for use in this illustration, I become succes- 
sively interested in them. This apparent diversity of ideas, 
nevertheless, forms a continuous whole, each having some 
influence on the other. 

4. That we claim every part of this stream as our 
thoughts, feelings, and ideas. 



EELATIOK A:N^D ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS 167 

5. That the outgoing ideas fade away gradually, often 
disappearing and reappearing many times in a few minutes, 
while the incoming ideas are growing in intensity. These 
outgoing ideas, like individuals, do not die or disappear with- 
out leaving their influence upon the newcomers. It is also 
true and proved experimentally that there is some prepara- 
tion before these newcomers obtain a place in the focus of 
consciousness. Perhaps on the physical side it is the adjust- 
ment of nerve action. However, there is often something 
taking place that greatly affects present consciousness. 

The Fundamental Law of Association of Ideas is that 
the simultaneous or successive appearance of two or more 
distinct impressions in consciousness tends to reappear in 
the same way. It is called the law of contiguity. So long as 
we knew nothing of the physical basis of association of ideas 
due to associated nerve paths, and accepted the current popu- 
lar idea that things were related in mind because of their 
similarity or striking contrast, no possible explanation could 
be given for the apparent jumble of ideas that often comes 
and goes, and all the strange guests we have mentioned. 

Satisfactory explanation of the relation and association 
of ideas must he hasecl on the physical processes in the nervous 
system. The first step is physiological habit. In the morn- 
ing I take up my razor to shave. A great number of muscu- 
lar habits will simultaneously be operative in my fingers and 
hands, even the larger muscles maintaining a given posture. 
But as I proceed successive hahits will determine the order 
— all because they were at one time simultaneously or 
successively produced. Such habits must also prevail in the 
paths, fibers, and cells of the nervous system, only with a 



168 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

thousand times more detail. It is now universally admitted 
that tliought is determined by physiological conditions, and 
the order of ideas hy the association of train 'processes. 
The fundamental law of contiguity is based upon the simul- 
taneous or successive activities of brain processes. They are 
the laws of habit in the nervous system. But this is not a 
fact to be regretted, for it is these hasal hahits of associ- 
ation that onake memory possible. 

A recent theory concerning the physical basis of associ- 
ation and habit of the nervous system holds that these 
processes are due to the action of the synapses. The con- 
nection between neurone and neurone is called a synapse. 
From this we are to understand that a stimulus weakens 
the resistance of a discharge in its passage from neurone 
to neurone. The character of these synapses differ greatly 
at birth, and this difference is intensified by stimuli and 
education. The physiological details of this theory are too 
minute for a work of this character. Suffice it to say that 
there are many problems it does not answer. Are we to 
suppose that no modifications exist elsewhere ? How then 
can we speak of habit where there are no synapses? Or 
how account for the tendency of cells to divide before 
synapses are formed? What abides in the neurones that 
causes them to reach out for the purpose of bridging the gap? 
Modifications ? We might enumerate many more difficul- 
ties, but we leave the subject for more advanced study. 

Laws of Practical Educational Value. Not all things 
have the same power in producing habits in the nervous 
system. We must therefore seek for the causes of these 
variations. Without doubt we inherit predispositions to 



eelatio:n" axd associatiox of ideas 169 

respond more readily in some lines than in others. Or, to 
express it in another way, habit is guided to some extent 
by instinct. We shall find other factors determining these 
variations. Such causes vre call Secondary Laws of Associa- 
tion, inasmuch as they operate under the Fundamental Law 
of Contiguity. These are usually given under four heads. 
1. The Law of Repetition tends to make permanent the 
modifications of brain fibers or cells whose activity is simul- 
taneously or successively repeated. Viewing mental life as a 
whole, probably nothing else plays such a large part in the 
permanent association of ideas and consequently in memory. 
The existence of other factors accompanying mere repeti- 
tion can easily be determined by a simple test or two that 
will also have a practical bearing on memorizing. Test I 
consists of ten short Norwegian words, with ten numbers 
opposite them. Commit them to memory by placing a card- 
board over all except the first pair and then moving down 
to the last, repeating the pairs. Do this without stopping, 
until you can say them with your eyes closed. Eecord the 
entire time and the number of repetitions. Let the whole 
class do this. Then compare and search for individual 
differences. 

Test I 



Igaar 


3 


Ellers 


11 


Kro 


8 


Ven 


22 


Herling 


6 


Afkrog 


17 


Gnist 


21 


Spag 


4 


Fri 


12 


Baade 


9 



170 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Following the same directions as above, conamit Test II 
and record entire time and number of repetitions. 

Test II 



Horse 


12 


City 


7 


Sea 


23 


Fire 


14 


Books 


2 


Pig 


19 


Home 





Travel 


29 


Justice 


5 


English 


40 



Compare the records for individual differences, and also 
compare this result with the previous record as to time 
and number of repetitions. Following the same directions, 
memorize Test III, which will not take you long. 





Test III 


Love 


Marriage 


School 


Study 


Murder 


Penitentiary 


Mother 


Child 


Sun 


Moon 


Cause 


Effect 


War 


Death 


Dance 


Music 


Steamer 


Ocean 


Sunday 


Church 



Many interesting facts may be discovered in these tests. 
We progress from purely mechanical association, especially 
if we are ignorant of the Norwegian language, to causal 
relations and to where we draw largely from our past 



KELATIOX AND ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS ITl 

experience and ideas. The first is about on a par with the 
old system of forcing on a child a meaningless alphabet 
and the spelling of meaningless words. Investigation would 
doubtless prove that much of the child's study, either by 
necessity or by not knowing how to study, is still of this 
nature. Rejjetition ivill finally beget the results, hut in all 
these cases it is not a question as to v:hat can he done ; it 
is a question of economy and of wholesome effect upon 
the mind. 

The comparison of results of these three tests made 
by several individuals will probably make clear certain 
peculiarities of different mmds. For example, I have 
found that the novelty of Test I will often have a bene- 
ficial effect in helping to memorize it. Emotional interest 
fixes attention. In case two or more successive words 
begin with the same letter, this association is utilized. 
In Test III the majority never pay any attention to the 
second series of words after the first rehearsal. Former 
associations are dominant. 

Should the words and numbers in Test I be so com- 
pletely forgotten that you could not be certain of a single 
one of them as ever having appeared in the list, and then 
should half or more of them be injected into another list, 
the influence of past experience would be unconsciously 
manifest so as to render this test easier. To show this 
clearly a longer test should be selected. 

By careful tests it has been recently shown that not only 
are the im^mediately successive impressions thus associated, 
but every second, third, fourth, or fifth one bears a relation to 
a corresponding one. For example, in a list of five hundred 
syllables there may exist some association between every 



172 ELEMEISTTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

third, fourth, fifth, or sixth one. Having apparently for- 
gotten such a list of nonsense syllables, it is still evident 
that a series composed of every third or fifth one selected 
from such a list is much more readily learned than a new 
list of the same number of nonsense syllables, though there 
may not he any coiiscioits recognition of these words as 
having been seen hefore. 

Again, suppose you are to commit to memory fifty lines 
of poetry. Select fifty lines from Tennyson ; repeat them 
twice in the morning and twice in the evening until you 
can repeat all without the book. Then select fifty similar 
lines from the same author and selection and repeat as 
many times as you can without reaching a marked de- 
gree of fatigue. If necessary, try again as soon as fatigue 
has disappeared. Then compare the number of repetitions 
and time spent on the two. It will doubtless be found 
that the first test economizes time and energy. 

Again, commit to memory twenty-five or fifty lines by 
learning only a few at a time, and then a few more, until 
the whole is learned. Under the same conditions commit 
to memory a similar number of lines from the same selec- 
tion, only read the entire number each time until you 
are sure of the whole. Carefully record the time in each 
case. Which will have the advantage in saving time ? In 
justice I should not tell you, but lest you never try it and 
because of its practical application to study, I say the com- 
plete reading each time has an immense advantage. The 
reason why this is not the customary method is due to the 
fact that the student becomes discouraged because several 
readings apparently bring no results. But when memory 
comes under such conditions, it comes all at once, and 



EELATIOX AXD ASSOCIATIOX OF IDEAS 173 

then has the immense advantage of being under a con- 
tinuous train of associations. In repeating the work it is 
not divided into sections that must be put together. It 
forms one whole. 

2. The Laiu of Emotional Interest plays an important 
part in the association of ideas and fully explains many a 
strange combination of ideas. For example, my earliest 
recollection is that of being hurt by a horse ; and associ- 
ated with this incident is a vivid image of an old barn, 
even to the minutest detail. 

An emotional undertone often colors all the associations 
of a given impression. A whole multitude of thoughts 
and impressions may be permanently cemented by an 
abiding undertone emotion. Lovers and homesick people 
know w^hat I mean. The very thought of a Turk first 
brings to my consciousness the vision of an old, dilapi- 
dated bridge across one arm of the sea at Constantinople, 
the moon-lit hills of the Asiatic shore, the sound of the 
ships, the songs of some laboring Turks, and then a 
countless number of impressions concerning the general 
conditions. Because of the mingled feelings of joy and 
sadness prevailing that night, this vision is the starting 
point of days of reminiscences. 

Interest of all kinds, and especially interest as presented 
in connection with apperception, gives direction to the 
association and relation of ideas. In the case of natural- 
born geniuses it is emotional interest that guides the 
association and relation of ideas. Here we must look 
deeper, for hereditary tendency helps to determine reaction 
in certain lines, just as the instinctive tendencies of ani- 
mals give preference to certain stimuli. 



174 ELEMEISTTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

No process of teaching or education can ignore the law 
of emotional preference. It operates always and everywhere 
in spite of our attitude. We should study it and turn it 
to positive use. 

3. Tlie Law of Logical Relation binds together by means 
of cause and effect, or of some common element. We have 
already had many examples of what we might properly 
call accidental connection of thoughts and ideas, due to 
their relation in time and space. The thought of my 
brother suggests a little mountain town, a beautiful river 
that glides by it, a canoe upset in the water, a runaway 
team. There is no logical connection or common element 
here. These impressions simply occurred at the same time 
and place. Without realizing it, our educational systen^ 
once rested largely upon this accidental association. Many 
are still content with it in spite of the great superiority 
of logical connections. 

The life of Socrates is naturally associated with that of 
such noble souls as Bruno, Spinoza, and Savonarola, be- 
cause of the common elements. Nero may suggest Martin 
Luther because they differ in the quality of goodness. The 
causes of the American Eevolution, for the logically trained 
mind, connect with many remote events of the human 
race. Sociological history that proceeds by means of cause 
and effect, and by common elements, is so superior to liistory 
of accidental association that it must eventually supplant 
the latter. For this reason science is proving herself 
superior to many other studies as a mental discipline. 

4. Voluntary attention is usually stated as one of these 
secondary laws of association. I believe the term is difficult 
and unfortunate, as will be seen in the chapter on Will. 



EELATIOX AXD AS80CIATI0X OF IDEAS 176 

A better term would be Consciousness of Effort. But we 
shall make clear what is generally meant by the term 
voluntary attention. Concentrate your attention upon the 
next hundred words so you will know when you have 
covered a hmidred words, and at the same time you must 
know something of what is said in these words. Now do 
it. Begin. You are at this moment changing your mental 
attitude. There is a certain tension which you feel in 
your muscles. A feeling of effort is the result. Strange 
ideas try to crowd you off the track, to confuse your 
countmg, but you must succeed. You are probably form- 
ing an association, never before formed, between the line 
and the number of words in it. Perhaps you have some 
idea of the number of lines on a page. Hereafter you will 
remember where you did this, your position, surroundings, 
etc. If you have obeyed me, you know the Law of Volun- 
tary Attention. It is more easily remembered than defined. 

By this concentration of attention some ideas are given 
vigor. A number of noises are disturbing me now as I 
write. Should I focus attention upon them with a view to 
analyzing them and ascertaining the number, they would 
become prominent in the stream of consciousness and 
permanently associated. Even this has caused my atten- 
tion to turn to them, and ever after these pages will prob- 
ably suggest this series of impressions. That it is a cold, 
dark night will be, by accidental association, connected 
with this occasion. 

I agree with James that this voluntary effort endures 
onlv for a few moments. AVe launch ourselves and soon 
we are carried on by the stream of tliought. But the mis- 
leading thing is that we do not launch ourselves without a 



176 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

cause, as is usually implied by this term. Why did you 
count those hundred words ? Had I not commanded it, 
would you have counted ? But this fact remains : Concen- 
tration increases train modification whatever the canse may 
he, and thereby furthers the association of ideas. 

Association in Dreams. Many valuable investigations 
have recently been made on the subject of Breams. Dreams 
are lighter and more logical during daytime than at night. 
The structure of the dream also bears some relation to the 
deepness of the sleep. A French investigator, N". Vaschilde, 
claims to have found a brief period of forgetfulness on 
waking. He discusses to some extent "How to Control 
Dreams." All efforts to control the hour of waking affect 
dreams. The influence of suggestion can hardly be over- 
estimated. 

The most thorough and systematic research into dream- 
land is Freud's " Traumdeutung." On account of its im- 
portant relation to the general problems of association of 
ideas the chief principles must be reviewed. The psy- 
chologist can no longer consider dreams a senseless com- 
plex of hallucinations, roaming lawlessly in the brain of 
the sleeper, nor simply psychic reactions to outside stimuli. 
Down deep in the subconscious is hidden a dream material 
that is coherent and logical. The dream is the translation 
of this hieroglyphic, symbolic material or record of the 
past life into common speech. Impressions in life, long 
past, especially shocks, strong feelings, desires, etc. are held 
symbolically. The translation is made by what he calls 
free association. We all have, treasured in the subcon- 
scious mind, many wishes suppressed since cliildhood. In 



EELATIOX AXD ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS 177 

short, dreams are the fulfillment of repressed wishes. To 
secure pleasure and avoid pain is the la^Y that reigns in 
the subconscious. The conscious dream-content which we 
relate is not the real dream-thmif/Jit ; it is only accentuated 
parts of it. The whole association and interpretation of 
symbols are secured from the individual by means of 
psychoanalysis. The details of this process we cannot enter 
into here, notwithstanding its great bearing on association 
of ideas. "The dream;' says Freud, "is the royal road to 
a knowledge of the imconscious in the soul." 

Under such an interpretation of dreamt a much wider 
scope is given to the association of ideas ; they almost seem 
to resort to subterfuge, disguising themselves as strangers. 
A^Tiatever we think of the theory, the facts presented by 
Freud and others make it certain that we can no longer 
explain the associations in dreams simply as the free play 
of the nervous system in response to stimuh. Under apper- 
ception we have already seen how ideas are often disguised 
by associated ideas. Any strong outside stimulus may 
inject itself into a dream ; but that is one thing, and being 
the cause of the dream is quite another. Any unexpected 
stimulus is hkely to be injected into our waking thoughts 
and to modify them. 

Our dream critics say that every dream contains some- 
thing from the last waking state. An amusing, a sad, or a 
serious incident fixed on the mind to-day may reappear in 
a dream to-nis^ht. But all this mav occur without these 
things being the primary basis of the dream-thought ; and 
they become very misleadmg because they are likely to 
form a part of the conscious dream idea. I have no doubt 
that this scientific study will finally result in showing us 



178 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

a greater and greater similarity between dream life and 
waking consciousness. If one could keep a perfectly 
accurate record of all ideas that follow any given joke 
or any sudden idea, such record would reveal strange 
associations of ideas. 

Practical Results of the Association Method. Professor 
Jung of Jena has developed an elaborate system of tests in 
association. The work is related to and bears out the con- 
clusion of the Freudian school. For practical tests a list 
of one hundred common words is carefully selected. The 
list has been perfected so as to strike readily all the practi- 
cal occurrences of life. The words are then pronounced 
one after another, and the person tested is instructed to 
answer as quickly as possible with the first word that 
enters the field of consciousness. The time necessary for 
a response is carefully recorded. It is not so easy and 
simple as it appears. 

In the first place many individuals show a marked pro- 
longed reaction time. This slowness of response does not 
depend on intellectual difficulties, hut on emotions involved. 
For example, the word hride or hridegroom will not 
produce a simple reaction in a young lady, but the time 
will be influenced by the feeling evoked. Sometimes 
the individual cannot react readily to some words. In 
cases of hysteria there are many failures to react at all. 
Sometimes the first word that occurs is suppressed, and 
then the individual is not content with a single word 
and gives several in which the original one will prob- 
ably appear. The hysterically inclined individual makes 
everything personal. 



EELATIOX AND ASSOCIATIOX OF IDEAS 179 

This system can be appKed to a number of persons sus- 
pected of a crime. Professor Jung gives many practical 
experiments. In one case he detected a thief among six 
nurses. A pocketbook had been stolen. He selected a 
number of suitable words, such as cloo7% key^ open^ cup- 
hoard^ names of things connected with the stealing, and 
then the names of all the things the purse contained. Other 
suitable words, such as suspicion^ theft^ steals police^ lie^fear^ 
etc. were added. These were distributed among twice as 
many indifferent words. It is impossible to recite here the 
long process and the variations of reaction time. But the 
thief was successfully caught and openly confessed the crime. 
The system may also be applied to detect feigned insanity. 

Another very suggestive application of these tests is the 
examination of several whole families. The most general 
conclusion drawn from these investigations is that all the 
members of a family seem to have a similarly lengthened 
reaction time for certain words involving peculiarly affec- 
tive states, even though such states belong only to one of 
the family. Our writers conclude that it is due to the 
unconscious mfection of the whole group. ''Every patient," 
says Jung, '' furnishes contributions to this subject of 
the determination of destiay through the influence of 
the family." This emphasizes the importance of the emo- 
tional hfe in early childhood. It is not so much the open 
teachiQg that forms the character of the child as the 
permanent moods and undertone feelings of the parents, 
or the concealed discord, the secret worry, the repressed 
wishes. All these unconsciously work their way into the 
child's mind. These movements may reveal much of the 
hidden soul hfe throuali the association of ideas. 



CHAPTEK IX 

FUNCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY AND 

IMAGINATION 

Memory and Imagination in Animals. Gradually we 
are passing from the old theological idea that animals have 
only instincts, man intellect. This doctrine my first 
teacher of psychology taught without compromise. Yet 
she was injudicious enough to mention the case of her 
dog that was kept in the house during the time he had a 
broken leg. She stated that months after he was well, 
when scolded for being in the house, he would feign 
lameness. I have often wondered if she was stupid or 
only bookish, that she did not see that this case involved 
some kind of memory, imagination, and inference or rea- 
soning — some hind, I say. 

In proportion as our knowledge of the wonderful power 
of animals to modify instinctive activity has advanced, 
have we been compelled to concede the modifying influence 
of some kind of intelligence. Our chief difficulty lay in 
our desire for classification and nomenclature. We may 
look in vain for any time or place where memory, imagina- 
tion, and thinking came into existence as we find them 
in ourselves. They are the products of a gradual evolution 
from older and more unconscious forms. They exist now 
even in human beings in all kinds of forms, combinations, 
and degrees. 

180 



MEMORY AXD IMAGIXATIOX 181 

Six new psychologies on my desk are each much con- 
cerned as to whether animals have ideas in the form of 
images. I am reminded of James's great address on '' Hu- 
man Immortality/' in which he said to a band of mission- 
aries: '' Be honest ; not one of you ever pictured to yourself 
a heaven overflowing with Chinamen. Why should I be 
jealous if even the leaves on the trees are immortal?" 
Is an image an absolute necessity for memory ? If so, it 
proves too much. The power of image formation varies in 
all degrees with human beings. In my hmited inves- 
tigations I have found at least a half-dozen students 
practically devoid of any visual imagery. Galton m his 
pioneer work on these lines says, '' To my astonishment 
I found that the great majority of the men of science 
to whom I first applied, protested that mental imagery 
was unknown to them.'' 

Eomanes has given a number of cases of memory in 
birds, horses, elephants, dogs, and monkeys, which any one 
can verify by observation of the higher animals, and which 
certainly involves some kind of conscious memory. I can- 
not subscribe to the statement that '' there is no good 
reason for believing that any animal possesses memory in 
this, its truest form.*' On the other hand, the facts com- 
pel me to concede the statement of Miss Washburn, that 
''it is not likely that any such gulf separates the human 
mind from that of the higher animals as would be involved 
in the absence from the latter of all images of past experi- 
ences." The evidence of memory and imagination in ani- 
mals will become clearer when we consider varieties of 
memory and imagination. The common interpretation of 
animal activities assumes the existence of these powers. 



182 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Varieties of Memory. 1. Since Hering's remarkable 
analysis of organic memory the use of this term is not 
only proper but necessary. It includes the power of or- 
ganic tissue to retain past impressions which predispose 
to certain future lines of action. The powerful force of 
heredity has its basis in organic memory. This is also 
manifested in the reflex activities already considered. In 
the highly developed reflexive and often habitual activity, 
consciousness may accompany the process, but the cause 
seems to abide in the organic tissue. 

The many acquired secondary reflexes, such as walking, 
highly perfected playing of musical instruments, perform- 
ances of thoroughly trained animals, expert marksman- 
ship, seem to have lost in a large measure their dependence 
on consciousness, and the power seems to abide in the 
muscles. To know that this power exists and how to con- 
ceive it are two different propositions. Houdin, having 
practiced until he was able to keep four balls in the air 
at once and at the same time to read from a book with- 
out hesitation, says that after thirty years, with scarcely any 
practice, he was able to read while keeping up three balls. 
The question of conscious memory in animals is largely 
a question as to how much organic memory can explain. 

2. Semiconscious memory is a term I would apply to a 
large field of psychic activities .not exactly reflex or habit- 
ual. One writer has presented some of this material under 
noninstinctive adjustments on the organic level of conscious- 
ness. " In walking we go through the crowds, turning this 
way and that way without bumping into anybody. We 
avoid stumbhng over rough places, turn aside for trees, 
for stones, for muddy spots. We come to a stream and give 



me:moky and imagination 183 

just the right spring to leap across it. We balance on one 
foot, we shoot a target, we hit or catch a baseball that is 
thrown. We drive a tennis ball aright, walk on the rail 
of a railway track, or even learn to walk a tight rope." 
These and hundreds of other adjustments that might be 
mentioned, such as bicycle riding, dancing, circus perform- 
ing, coming down a flight of stairs in the dark, turning to 
the proper corner for the book one happens to want, while 
apparently occupied with something else, are generally not 
wholly imconscious ; but no image of any past performance 
seems to be necessary. The conscious part seems concerned 
only icith the end to he accomplished. 

In a much larger way many dim memories of past ex- 
perience exercise a control over our flow of ideas and over 
our conduct, without thrusting any vivid images into con- 
sciousness. A sudden shock, an insult, a fright, a sad story, 
a grand theatrical performance, a powerful book — none of 
these lose their guiding effect on hfe as soon as they cease 
to be evoked in the form of conscious images. Shall we 
then say they are in no wise remembered ? 

3. Recognition and the feeling of familiarity are forms 
of memory that are doubtless more primitive than memory 
images. Such are probably quite common to animals and 
are always evident in human experience. Xeither are they 
the same as anticipatory images, such as the child forms 
in anticipating the outcome of a story. These images are 
constructed by imagination out of memory material. The 
lower orders of anticipatory images, such as some writers 
believe to be the only kind of imagery in animals, need 
not involve consciousness of past experiences ; but they 
are tlie raw material for memory images, and it seems 



184 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

hardly probable that the result of actions can be anticipated 
by animals without some aid from sources such as are 
presented under semiconscious memory. 

Can we not recall many cases when a given passage, a 
poem, a story, a person, a place, an anecdote, or an incident 
seemed familiar, yet we were unable to locate it in any 
definite past experience ? Sometimes this may be due to a 
past similar experience which we do not recognize because 
we are confusing similarity with identity, but it may also 
be due to partial memory. A strange speculative theory 
about a past existence has been invoked to explain the 
feeling that we have been here before when we know we 
have not. In all such cases, what is not due to aicto- 
siiggestion is undoubtedly due to a past similar experience 
not then recognized. 

Again, there are countless numbers of experiences that 
will never again be in consciousness unless similar experi- 
ences are thrust upon us. Then we recognize them. We 
may even be sure of the experience, but unable to locate 
it in time and place. Eecently a young lady called to see 
me. I felt positively sure I recognized her. I secured her 
name, acted as if I had always known her, and, being so 
sure, I said, '' Where did I meet you ? " She replied, '' No- 
where." I am still at a loss for an explanation of this 
positive feeling of certainty, but it must be related to some 
past impression of some one else that now dominates this 
interpretation but does not fully rise in consciousness. 

4. Memory images of the different senses. Visual im- 
ages predominate in most people, and with some they are 
almost the only mode by which memory and imagination 
represent the past to the individual. It will be an easy 



MEMOEY AXD IMAGIXATION 185 

matter to get an insight into this individual variation. 
Select forty or fifty words, such as dancing, hatthy thunder- 
stoririy merry-go-round, coffee^ toothache ; request the class 
to note what first comes into consciousness as you utter 
these unexpected words. Some will see the dance hall, 
the battlefield, the lightning and the sky, the steam rising 
from the coffee. Some will hear the music, the cannon 
roar, the music of the merry-go-round. Others w^ill/^^^ the 
movement of the dance or of the merry-go-round, the shud- 
der produced by the thunder. A few will smell or taste the 
coffee. If this be carried far enough, careful selections 
made, and records kept, you can discover the dominant 
tendency of each person. 

Eemarkable individual differences exist and should be 
taken into account in our educative process. Persons 
strongly inclined to be visual-minded find it difficult to 
learn a foreign language through the ear. It is this type 
of mind that may play a half-dozen games of chess at once, 
blindfolded. Those ear-minded find the oral language easy. 
To have images of taste, smell, and movement is not com- 
mon, but many very marked cases may be found. Very 
few individuals are limited exclusively to any one of these 
kinds of memory, but in most people either visual or audi- 
tory images predominate, and motor are perhaps next in 
generality. 

5. The complete memory process. This includes (1) re- 
tention of past impressions ; (2) recall of such impres- 
sions ; (3) recognition as a past experience ; (4) location 
in space and time ; (5) association of impressions in nor- 
mal relations. Certainly it has now become evident that 
we have not only memory, but memories ; that memory 



186 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

is the product of a developing process, as are all other 
faculties and powers of man ; that memory is inseparably 
joined to imagination. 

Another important fact should be noted in this connec- 
tion. We have memories for dates, for names, for poetry, 
for events, etc., that are comparatively distinct. Cultiva- 
tion of memory in any one line adds little power in others. 
The mail clerk who can call twelve or fifteen thousand 
people by name on sight has not, in any discernible degree, 
increased his power to commit poetry to memory. Some 
minds are, by their very inherited constitution, more in- 
chned to some lines than to others. The musical or 
mathematical prodigy furnishes a good example. In other 
cases interest, habit, and exercise determine our chief 
memory ability. 

The Physical Basis of Memory. It is now conceded 
(1) that memory is wholly conditioned on brain paths 
and their connections ; (2) that no past event can appear 
in consciousness unless the same fibers and cells are again 
stimulated to action quite similar to the original; (3) that 
retention and recall are but the law of habit in the ner- 
vous system ; (4) that when certain parts of the brain fail 
to function or are destroyed there is temporary or perma- 
nent damage to memory. 

Such diseases of memory are well described by Eibot. 
Aphasia is the loss of the power of speech, due not to any 
defect in articulation or in general intelhgence ; it is for- 
getting hovn. Agraphia is a disorder by which the indi- 
vidual forgets how to write. The muscles are all right, but 
memory of the past art is wanting. Alexia is loss of 



MEMORY AND IMAGmATIOK 187 

memory of the process of reading. We also have many 
cases of purely intellectual phenomena in wliich memory 
fails in particular liaes only. The loss of the power to 
remember proper names, wliile memory for all other tilings 
is normal, is occasionally found. 

Eeference has already been made on page 127 to the 
personal observations on a physician's daughter, who had 
received a severe injury by falliag from a third-story win- 
dow. \^Tien I met her she was perfectly well, but very 
deformed, had regained her mental power and vigor except 
the ability to call proper names. As a substitute she de- 
scribed in minute detail until the person or object referred 
to was clearly recognized. Such diseases of memory, as 
well as other disorders that might be mentioned, together 
with the results of many surgical operations, compel the 
conclusion not only that memory has a physical basis but 
also that special memories use specific parts of the brain. 
How these impressions are retained in the nervous sub- 
stance is entirely beyond the power of imagination and 
belongs to the absolutely inconceivable. 

It was once generally believed, and still is by some, 
that all ideas that were once in consciousness, and that 
may still be recalled, continue to exist somewhere as ideas. 
But this baffles m}^ imagination. Perhaps a scientific fact 
might help us in our conception of the way these impres- 
sions are treasured up. While the records of a Victrola lie 
unoperated on my table are there, in reality, any songs, 
operas, voices of men and women, emotions of love, religion, 
etc., or only the j^otentiality or possibility ? "Wliile probably 
no imagination will ever be powerful enough to picture 
how these millions of delicate and different impressions 



188 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

are treasured in the nervous system, and, what is still 
harder, how they are agam brought into living reality, 
yet it seems that this is the only possible direction in 
which the truth can lie. However, let no one suppose 
that this gives any support to materialism. Whether the 
essence of things is materialistic or spiritualistic is a 
philosophical problem, and from speculative considerations 
we are compelled to a spiritualistic rather than to a 
materialistic philosophy. 

Relation of Imagination and Memory. To make a com- 
plete separation of these two functions of mind is impos- 
sible. Pure memory is consciousness that the phenomenon 
has existed in the past and essentially as it is now. Pure 
imagination is consciousness that this particular represen- 
tation has not yet existed for us as it is noio in conscious- 
ness. Between these two statements there is a distinct 
difference. But we have taken only the extreme forms of 
both processes. 

Let us take a fcAv different cases. I once saw a boy stab 
another. Many times my imagination or memory (which 
shall I say ?) pictured the scene. When called before the 
jury I had a definite image before my mind as to how it 
all happened. Suppose the image was all wrong, shall I 
charge the lie to the memory or to the imagination ? In 
dealing with children the pedagogue recognizes the lie of 
the imagination. Do such lies exist among big children ? 
Yesterday I read a description of a sinking ship. Suppose 
I now make a drawing of it. Is that memory or imagina- 
tion ? Last year I saw the parliament building in Victoria. 
I will now draw the front lawn, putting ten trees in the 



MEMOKY AXD IMAGIKATIOX 189 

front row. Suppose there were only eight, yet my imagi- 
nation makes me believe there were ten, because it harmo- 
nizes with what / think luoidd he the ^proper niimher. Are 
there not thousands of false memories due to this under- 
tone desire to have things harmonize to suit us ? Suppose 
at first I hioioingly put these extra trees there, but later 
come to think ten the original number ? 

James long ago placed all memory images under the 
imagination, showed 'how vague and indefinite they usu- 
ally are, and how they vary in different individuals. I am 
sure these suo^ojestions will suffice to make clear the close 
relation of memory and imagination and justify their joint 
consideration. One difference between an image of past ex- 
perience, or memory image, and the true imaginary image, 
is often the extreme changeableness of the latter. Often 
these imaginary images are as changeable as moving pictures. 

Strange Visual Images. Some years ago I was very 
much interested in number forms and collected about one 
hundred forty-seven, to which I have since added several. 
I not only found that about one in every fourteen persons 
has one of these strange number forms, but that many 
have forms for the days of the week, months of the year, 
and the twenty-four hours of the day. Some have forms 
for certain anthems, the Lord's Prayer, the Doxology, and 
the alphabet. A few see the printed page in various colors, 
certain letters always appearing in a given color. Some see 
certain colors when some specific high notes are struck. 

The general character of a number form is such that 
whenever a number is thought of, it appears in the same 
place on a visual diagram which is invariably called up 



190 



ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 



and viewed by the mental eye. Sometimes these diagrams 
are enormously large. Galton, who first studied these 
phenomena, says : " Sometimes a form has twists as well 
as bends, sometimes it is turned upside down, sometimes 
it plunges into an abyss of immeasurable depth, or rises 
and disappears in the sky." 

These forms are useful to the individual. I found but six 
who could remember when and how the forms originated, 




Fig. 16 



and in no case was the explanation satisfactory, even 
to the individual. In spite of their early and mysterious 
origin I cannot believe, as Galton does, that they are 
her.editary. Their origin lies in the early, free play of 
the imagination. These forms do not constitute a class of 
distinct phenomena. They are a part of the endless variety 
of mental imagery. Not only is this true, but there are 
many indefinite and embryonic number forms. Many 



MEMORY AXD IMAGINATION 



191 



children when counting simply have a sensation that the 
numbers go to the right, up, or down. A noted mathe- 
matician said he had no number form, but that his number 
series contracted as it advanced uito the thousands. 



F^^T Cp^ ^SiS) 







(Jaiv) 



Fig. 17 



Fig. 16 is the number form of a professor of phi- 
losophy. He was astonished to learn that any one could 
conceive numbers in any other way. Fig. 17 is a young 
man's form for the months of the year. No two forms I 
have ever seen bear any close resemblance. The varieties 
are as great as the number of forms. The great lesson to 
be drawn from all this is that we must not believe that 



192 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

our mode of conceiving things is the best, the only cor- 
rect, or the only possible way. What may be impossible 
to us may be easy and natural to others. 

Values and Dangers of the Imagination. The best 
things in the world are also the most dangerous. This 
will certainly apply to the imagination. Let us note 
briefly its immense value. 

1. Appreciative imagination. In the production and en- 
joyment of literature and art, imagination is the supreme 
factor. In reference to Maeterlinck's " Blue Bird," which 
has been enjoyed so much, a cultured gentleman lately 
said, "Maeterlinck's imagination must be wild almost to 
the point of insanity." " Yes," said I, " and the individual 
who gets and enjoys his meaning must have a wild imagina- 
tion behind which abides the guiding hand of large ideas." 

2. Constructive imagination is the pilot of science and 
invention. Without this, invention would come to a 
standstill. 

3. Idealistic imagination. The imagination is a power- 
ful element in producing character under the guidance of 
ideals. An individual without effective ideals is a drifter 
without a destiny. From the daily experiences of hfe and 
from the noble characters of history and Hterature the 
imagination may construct these ideals. I have little hope 
for the young man or woman who has not sufficient am- 
bition, interest, and imagination to construct an ideal 
destiny. 

4. Mnsic-imagination. Imagination puts a soul into both 
the production and the enjoyment of music. This is one 
of the elements that comprehensible words add to music. 



MEMORY AXD BE AGINATION 193 

The words must be such as to provoke mental images 
within the range of the experiences of the individuals. 
This alone will give life and interest. A soul rich in past 
emotional experience and gifted with imagination cannot 
fail to be moved by appropriate music. The disregard of 
these factors in much of the music for children and by 
many music teachers in our public schools is a serious 
blunder. Music must not be regarded simply as a science, 
an art, an accomplishment; its supreme function is to 
enrich human feelings and add joy to life. 

5. Reminiscent imagery. The enjoyment of the past is 
chiefly the result of a vivid imagination. Here good habits 
and education play an important part. If not, the mind 
comes to dwell upon the dark side of life, to magnify this 
darkness out of all due proportion, to get sorrow even out 
of past pleasures because they come not again. '^ Gone are 
the days when my heart was young and gay," and a thou- 
sand other phrases, so keenly enjoyed by many, are echoes 
of this tendency. But they are still in the land known 
as the luxury of grief, and may never pass into despair. 

6. Sympathetic imagination. Sympathy with others is 
largely dependent upon that power of the imagination by 
which one lives in the conditions of another. Those who 
have never known need, want, poverty, are one step re- 
moved from the possibility of genuine sympathy for the 
starving thousands. Those who have neither known these 
things nor observed the conditions of the poverty-stricken 
are two steps removed from the possibility of genuine sym- 
pathy. You blame them to no effect. They may give of 
their goods, but for sympathetic feeling they are lacking 
in material. 



194 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

The dangers of imagination may be briefly presented 
under three heads : (1) Criminal imagination. Imaginary 
crime tends to become realized. There is a practical essay 
by Holland on " The Sins of the Imagination." It is full 
of psychological truth. In psychology we recognize sudden 
psychic breaks, and the explosive character is not uncom- 
mon; but for most objective crimes we have reason to 
believe that a period of incubation in the imagination is 
necessary. (2) Patliological imagination. Serious hodily 
and mental disorders are often the product of the imagina- 
tion, and those that have some other origin are often 
greatly increased by the imagination. This topic will re- 
ceive further consideration in the chapter on Mental 
Healing, (3) Idle daydreaming may be pleasurable, but 
it is detrimental to mental discipline and squanders time 
that could be put to better use. 

The Education of Memory and Imagination. 1. The 
ways, means, and extent to which these powers may be 
and should be improved are still problems in education. 
Some years ago Professor James startled the educational 
world by saying that '' no amount of culture ivould seem 
capable of modifying a man's original retentiveness,^'' His 
original power is based on the number of brain cells and 
their connections. But the same writer added that ^' all 
improvement of memory consists in the improvement of 
one's habitual methods of recording facts." The elabora- 
tion of our methods of association is still, in some degree, 
at our command. 

The more I study the educational process the more I 
am convinced that what we chiefly do for these powers 



MEMOEY AND IMAGINATION 195 

of memory and imagination is to direct their energies in 
certain lines rather than actually to increase their poiver. I 
have little hope of inflaming a flickering spark of imagi- 
nation into a consuming fire. Of course many will cite 
cases of sluggish imaginations becoming creative and pow- 
erful under stimuli. I have seen that happen to many 
children under no stimulus save their natural develop- 
ment. General education is destined to become more and 
more a directive force. Its second great function zvill be to 
economize time and ejiergy. We have overestimated our 
ability to rectify the supposed mistakes of Nature. 

2. The Laivs of Memory are essentially the Laivs of Asso- 
ciation of Ideas^ already considered in a previous chapter. 
Their importance justifies a brief restatement, (a) Relation 
by means of cause and effect or by adequate classification of 
facts gives us the highest form of memory and the one to be 
sought in our educative process, (b) Clear, vivid images are 
most easily recalled, (c) Emotional interest is a powerful 
factor in determining what shall become a permanent part 
of one's stock of past experiences, {d) Repetition deepens 
the brain paths and helps to insure association and recall. 
(e) Voluntary attention^ being accompanied by effort^ secures 
a more vivid image and strengthens memory. (/) Other 
things being equal, the most recent impressions are the 
most likely to be reproduced, {g) This new^ memory ma- 
terial may seem permanent, but soon it begins to slip away 
very rapidly. At first this process of forgetting goes on so 
rapidly that it seems that all will soon be gone ; but w^hat 
remains goes slow^er and slower. Ebbinghaus, after many 
tests, declared that a person may retain almost as much 
after thirteen months as after twelve months. 



196 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Suggestions to the Student for saving Time and Energy. 
1. In applying the law of logical connection seek for the 
natural grouping and relation of things, no matter in what 
class or book such facts be encountered. Learn to see the 
psychology there is in literature, the lessons of sociology 
contained in novels, etc. The mind I appreciate .most is 
not the one that presents the greatest number of facts, 
first, second, etc., but the one that sees the relations, 
agreements, or disagreements. Seek relations everywhere. 
Every lesson has some examples for other lessons if prop- 
erly seen. Never throw your mind into chaos by cramming 
disconnected facts for examination. Your mind is ivorth 
more than your grade, 

2. Where only an ordinary comprehension is desired, 
it is a mistake to read with the reserved understanding 
that the material is to be read again. Such understand- 
ing lurking in the dimness of consciousness will help to 
dissipate attention. As a rule, read rapidly and with the 
positive understanding that you must get it then or never. 

3. Time and energy are saved by reading the whole from 
beginning to end each time until it is learned. 

4. Rapid repetitions are much better than slotv ones. 
Slow movement of thought allows foreign ideas and associ- 
ations to be formed. For all occasions rapid reading 
secures better results than slow reading. 

5. In learning anything that requires several repetitions, 
after a few repetitions it saves time and energy to allow 
some time to elapse before returning to it again. Just 
what the greatest lapse of time between repetitions, and 
the greatest number of repetitions at any one time should 
be, will depend somewhat on the length of the material 



MEMORY AXD I]^rACTi:N:ATION^ 19T 

to be memorized, the physical condition of the individual, 
the tendencies to fatigue, and the relation of recalling to 
forgettmg. Eefer to tests given under association. 

6. If possible, first understand what you are to learn. 
We should never compel memory first and hope for under- 
standing later. 

7. Finally, let no one attempt to carry a mass of rubbish 
and junk in his mind. To burden the mind with the non- 
essential and trivial is to forget the more essential. It is a 
waste of precious energy and life to insist on carrying a 
jumble of stuff on the assumption of disciplining the 
mind; there are enough useful things to discipline the 
mind. I respect the individual who refuses to carry in his 
mind the names of all the capes of Europe and the cross- 
roads of Texas. Judicious forgetting is a necessary adjunct 
of a good memory. 

Memory and Court Testimony. Evidence in court was 
once considered to be either conscious truth or willful 
lying. That both lies and truth might be told unintention- 
ally was not dreamed of. Browning, in his great work, 
'' The Eing and the Book," makes a literary attempt to 
show how impossible it is '' to tell the truth, the whole 
truth, and nothing but the truth." But the subject has 
recently received scientific investigation, and I append 
here the cliief conclusions of the principal investigator, 
Professor Stern of Breslau University. 

Experiments made on students as to the number of pic- 
tures in a room showed that by '' narration " immediately 
after observation five per cent were in error, and some weeks 
later, ten per cent. By ^' interrogation " the per cent of 



198 ELEME:NrTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

error increased to twenty or twenty-five. Another set of 
experiments which involved the simple incident of a gen- 
tleman entering the room, conversing briefly, taking a book 
from the shelf and departing, showed a week later twenty- 
five per cent in error by simple '' narration," and fifty per 
cent in error by '' interrogation." 

We must now state the practical conclusions without 
further rehearsal of experiments. In home and school dis- 
cipline we should not consider a report demonstrably false 
necessarily a lie and to be punished accordingly. The un- 
conscious powder of fancy, imagination, and faulty memory 
may account for it. Falsification by children when under 
fire of questions and suggestions is natural and almost 
unavoidable. The sw^orn testimony of a competent witness 
can no longer be regarded as consciously true or false. The 
more a witness is left to spontaneous narration and the less 
suggestive questions he is asked, the less will be the danger 
of falsification. Whenever identification is involved the 
witness should make it without suggestions as to features, 
dress, etc. Colors are poorly remembered, and after lapse of 
time testimony concerning clothmg is almost w^orthless. 
Short intervals of time are liable to be overestimated, es- 
pecially under emotional excitement. The testimony of 
children and adolescents should be given special consider- 
ation. Lawyers should occasionally be the subjects of mem- 
ory tests, in order that they may see how the answering 
of questions is actually performed. 

The practical application of psychology was first directed 
to education. It is now being extended to medicine and 
law with every evidence of fruitful results and great modi- 
fications of old beliefs. 



CHAPTEE X 
PROBLEMS OF HEREDITY AXD EXVIROXMENT 

The old adage, '' Better to be born lucky than rich," has 
its root in observation, but is the result of misinterpreted 
facts. Luck and chance, implying the absence of adequate 
cause, have no place in this universe of order. The adage 
should be, '' Better to be well born than rich," because the 
only degrees of wealth in this world are the degrees of life. 
'' There is no wealth but life," says Euskin. 

There is no problem of modern science which cries so 
loudly for public attention and information. It is the su- 
preme demand of the hour, because it is here that the cost 
of ignorance is paid in direct terms of human life. Here 
the old impressions of the populace are frequently contrary 
to the well-established facts of science; but without public 
opinion nothing can be made practical. Some surmise of its 
importance might be gained even by a glimpse of the work 
going on in this line all over the civilized world. Oxford 
University has recently appropriated a large sum of money 
for special researches in heredity. 

The old doctriue declared that each individual has the 
same kind of a soul with equal potentialities. Science 
says no two souls come into the world alike. Xo two indi- 
viduals start life equal, either physically, intellectually, or 
morallv. The stronojest statement we can make concernins^ 
equality is that individuals may vary from approximate 

199 



200 ELEMEXTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

sameness to all degrees of milikeness. Galton made exten- 
sive studies along these lines, including some twenty cases of 
twins. In nearly every case he found evidence to the effect 
that " their increasing dissimilarity must be ascribed to a 
natural difference of mind and character, as there has been 
nothing in their treatment to account for it." Mr. Galton's 
impression is finally summed up as follows : '' The impres- 
sion that all this leaves on the mind is one of some wonder 
whether nurture can do anything at all, beyond giving in- 
struction and professional training. There is no escape from 
the conclusion that nature prevails enormously over nur- 
ture when the differences of nurture do not exceed what is 
commonly to be found among persons of the same rank of 
society and in the same country." 

Suppose training and environment are able to strengthen 
some relatively weak powers of the original nature, and 
prevent the development of stronger ones ; that is no ar- 
gument for denying the existence of such qualities or af- 
firming that it is a wise thing to do. Do a man's inherent 
qualities so combine as to make him a poet or a painter, a 
scientist or a mathematician ? That depends upon the 
degree of original organization and unity. In the greatest 
geniuses, yes ; for the majority of cases the inner natures 
only indicate a general direction. 

By putting a false meaning into heredity, never applied 
by science, the get-there-quick reformer would instruct the 
public to ignore heredity and base all reform on environ- 
ment. This is contrary to the important revelations of 
modern science. By minimizing and ignoring the primary 
cause these reformers become more hopeful in dealing with 
the secondary cause — environment. Suppose that by some 



HEEEDITY AND EXYIEONMEXT 201 

Faust-like magic we could rid the world of objective evils 
and the objective conditions leading to those evils, such as 
saloons, dens of vice, fraud, and dishonesty. Still, would 
not the same inherent nature that developed these condi- 
tions develop similar ones in the process of time ? 

Viewing conditions as they now are, this phase of psy- 
chology is more important than any other. In a book 
like tliis everything must be elementary and introductory. 
Therefore we shall attempt a simple statement of some 
facts and problems, with a hope that such may arouse in- 
terest, lead to further study, and to a better-informed public. 

Meaning of Heredity. Heredity, as used in ordinary 
speech, has two meanings — one now scientifically proved 
false, the other only a part of the truth. Heredity is 
often used to cover only the qualities, habits, and char- 
acteristics acquired by parents in their lifetime ; but 
these functional and structural changes produced in an 
individual by conditions are not now generally beheved 
to be transmitted. Such modifications must be distin- 
guished from the poisonous effects of certain diseases and 
of drugs that act directly on the germ cell to poison and 
deteriorate the same. For thirty years all efforts to pro- 
duce any evidence of the transmission of these functional 
and structural changes acquired during the lifetime have 
failed. There is a wide difference between an acquired 
function, such as swiftness of foot, facility in the use of 
many languages, skillfulness in piano playing, acquired 
diseases that do not act as a poison on the germ cells, crimes 
for which, conditions are responsible, and the effect produced 
hy saturatijig the system ivith a poisonous alcohol. Poisons 



202 ELEMENTAPvY PSYCHOLOGY 

act directly on the germ cells. There is no proof, nor are 
there any indications, that these first-mentioned acquired 
functions are inherited. Slum children are born ready to 
start where their parents started, in spite of the deteriora- 
tion of their parents. It has been proved that their stunted 
growth and proneness to disease are due to their environ- 
ment. Have not the retinal and optic nerves of our ances- 
tors been stimulated by images from the external world 
probably for half a million years ? Yet the naturally blind 
have no images or tendency to form them. What hope 
then may we entertain that a few hours of muscular 
exercise, of mathematical thinking, of piano playing, etc., 
will ever modify the course of our offspring ? 

Mention should be made of two popular beliefs con- 
cerning heredity. One of them is the belief that a female's 
offspring, animal or human, by a second mate will tend 
to resemble the first mate. Darwin cited one case as sci- 
entific. But all efforts to produce satisfactory proof have 
failed. The belief is certainly founded on the tendency to 
draw conclusions from individual cases of coincidence and 
suggested resemblances. 

The other is that almost universal belief that the 
mother's mental condition during pregnancy may mod- 
ify the offspring even to the extent of marks and physical 
deformity. There is no scientific evidence for this wide- 
spread belief. Many children are born with some abnor- 
mality and a large proportion have some mark on the 
skin. Coincidence and suggestion are probably the sources 
of this belief. 

We shall continue to look with interest upon the efforts 
to prove the inheritance of acquired characteristics. It 



HEREDITY AXD ENVIRONMENT 203 

is certainly not proved yet, and all indications render it 
doubtful. Even if it were true, experiments have now 
proved that such heredity must always remain a compar- 
atively small factor in the development of the race. If 
the activities and conditions of the organism during its 
natural existence affect the coming generations, such effect 
is almost an imperceptible accumulation, and especially 
inclined to be manifest in some indefinite form. 

Is this a denial of heredity ? " Now who could have 
predicted," says Dr. Saleeby, " that this plain and simple 
truth would be regarded by some people as constituting a 
denial of the principle of heredity. ^ The bubble of heredity 
has been pricked,' says Mr. Bernard Shaw." Many advo- 
cates of environment have seen only this much in heredity. 

Again, in ordinary speech, heredity means that w^e can 
trace the given characteristics in some one or more of the 
ancestors. This is an accurate use of the term, but it is not 
all of the truth. Tliere are also hereditary qualities that 
cannot he traced in the ancestors. Such are those that belong 
to spontaneous variations. Such variations are constantly 
occurring throughout nature, and man is no exception. They 
are also being greatly multiplied artificially. Dr. Saleeby 
tells us that Professor Biff en " has called into existence a 
new kind of wheat such as never existed before." 

There are thousands of qualities and combinations both 
physical and intellectual coming into existence by what I 
have called creative variation. Idiots, imbeciles, and de- 
formed children are often born of parents in whose ancestors 
we cannot trace these characteristics. Geniuses are often 
like products. All such variations tend to he inherited. In- 
vestigations show that children from parents born deaf are 



204 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

more than two hundred fifty times as hkely to be deaf as 
children of parents whose hearing was not impaired. Other 
physical defects follow similar ratios. It is also equally 
true that the spontaneous mental variations, whether good 
or bad, tend to reappear in the offspring ; that is to say, 
that the children of naturally gifted parents have many 
more chances to be gifted than the average child. But 
by creative variation^ which works from inner causes un- 
known to us, may come naturally gifted individuals from any 
people. Once started, these qualities tend to persist. Imbe- 
cility and idiocy may occasionally appear among the chil- 
dren of naturally intelhgent parents, but the struggles of the 
past have been against the propagation of these qualities. 
Dr. Saleeby takes Shakespeare as an example of the 
hereditary genius in whose ancestors his talent cannot be 
traced. He says no one would say that Shakespeare's genius 
was hereditary in the sense that it can be traced in his 
ancestors. Are we, then, to say that it was acquired ? 
Would not every one protest that a poet is born, not made ? 
Was his genius then neither inherent nor acquired ? What 
a dilemma ! But his genius was inherent in him at birth, 
and in some mysterious way was given to him through his 
parents. Now what is true of this case may be true in an 
infinite number of cases and of any quality or lack of 
quality. In any accurate sense of the word these qualities 
are hereditary and tend to reappear in the offspring. 
Children born blind are likely to have children of defective 
eyesight, and ere long, as we have abundant proof with 
animals, these qualities become permanent possessions of 
the race. The bubble of heredity has not been pricked, for 
heredity now speaks with a power and authority never 



HEEEDITY AXD EXVIEOX^IEXT 205 

before dreamed of. There are enough plain, simple facts 
about any farmyard to substantiate the claims of heredity. 
It is by taking advantage of these variations that the as- 
tounding results in horticulture and the improvement of 
animals have been accomplished. Heredity includes every 
possession, actual and potential, that the organism brings 
into the world, no matter whether such be the gift of the 
gods or of parents. 

Whence come these Hereditary Qualities with which 
Every Child begins Life ? We may simplify our prob- 
lem by stating these sources under five different heads. Of 
course it is not possible to make a classification of these 
characteristics and tendencies so as to indicate the origin 
of each. 

1. Characteidstics of Immanity, Everywhere men have 
certain inherited qualities in common. They have physical 
form, organs of sense, feelings, passions, intelhgence, and 
will. The general forms of these are descended by heredity 
from countless ages of the past. These children of human- 
ity are subject to the same diseases, sustained by the 
same food, and filled with similar longings and emotions. 
All battle with Xature. By his inheritance of humanity 
man triumphs where other animals fail. Some one has 
said : '' Man is Xature's rebel. AMiere Xature says Die I 
man says, ' I will hve.' " But man does not tvill Will. 
He inherits it by being a man. 

2. Race inheritance. Without taking into account what 
is purely habit, custom, and what abides only because it is 
acquired by each generation anew, we must admit that there 
are certain parts of each one's heredity that are racial and 



206 ELEME^s^TAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

that cause him to differ in some degree from individuals of 
other races. Ethnologists have studied these physical and 
racial traits with great care, and believe them to be ac- 
companied by mental traits that divide races and determine 
their progress. Dr. Brinton says, " The differences among 
men are the results of physiological processes proceeding 
in definite directions under fixed laws." The Negro, the 
Mongolian, the Latin races, the Anglo-Saxon — all have 
many characteristics of humanity in common, but each has, 
in addition thereto, many traits not common to the others. 
Latourneau states that the races and subraces can be classi- 
fied according to their mental traits, characteristics, and 
differences. Many writers on sociology now beheve that 
the inherent nature and tendencies of a race, such as the 
Teutonic or Latin, have more to do in determining the 
nature of the religion accepted than the religion has to 
do in forming these qualities. 

3. Characteristics of the father and mother. Every 
child tends to inherit the qualities of its father and mother, 
but chiefly the qualities which they, brought into the world, 
not those habits, characteristics, and modified structures 
which they have acquired during their lifetime. It is im- 
possible for the child to inherit all the features and qualities 
of both parents. Wliat combination will take place is a 
problem of future embryology. Whenever two cells unite 
to form a new organism, one half of the chromatin bodies 
which are the bearers of heredity are cast off. In each 
cell there is always an even number of these bodies, and 
the new cell still contains the same number after the two 
have united. This process is a powerful factor in determin- 
ing variations in heredity. 



HEEEDITY AXD EXVIEOXMEXT 207 

4. Individual characteristics due to certain variations. 
The general tendency is to be like the parents, but there 
also exists a tendency to be unlike in some measure. In 
evolution this is known as spontaneous variation. It is 
chiefly by these quahties that the individual is distinguished 
from the mass. One's variations in size, in color of hair 
or eyes, in structure and general features, in passions, in 
emotional temperament, in intellect, and in an infinite va- 
riety of gradations and combinations of quahties — all are 
possible inheritances for future generations, and are likely 
to reappear in the future offspring. That natural, sponta- 
neous variations favorable to uioral and intellectual 
development may be transmitted is now proved. 

5. Latent potentialities^ capabilities, and limitations. It 
often happens that a specific and prominent inherent char- 
acteristic of the father or mother may not appear in their 
posterity for several generations. This was originally called 
atavism, but recently some objections have been raised to 
this use of the word. Fortunately the idea can be secured 
without disputing about the name. A few cases will illus- 
trate this principle. Color-blindness is mherited cliiefly 
by the male. A father who is color-blind may have a 
half-dozen daughters with perfect power for discriminat- 
ing colors. These in turn may have children and no 
color-blindness is likely to appear until a male child 
is born. Haemophiha is an incurable blood disease of 
which the victim dies in maturity. It is hereditary but 
chiefly inherited by the male children. A mother per- 
fect in health may give birth to a son who will die of the 
disease later because his grandfather or great-grandfather 
had the disease. Spencer traced the case of double 



208 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

thumbs through several generations, found many varia- 
tions, sometimes double toes also, and found, moreover, 
that the quality often remained latent for one or two 
generations. 

What is true of these physical characteristics is also 
true of mental and moral variations, and of limitations. 
They are carried as potentialities for an indefinite time, 
and, under causes which we cannot discover, may reappear. 
Some believe that in this manner we inherit from our most 
remote ancestors — that there is latent in us an infinite 
number of characteristics and impulses. Jack London's 
" Call of the Wild " is a good illustration of the large phase 
of this idea. Do you any longer doubt that heredity is the 
mighty power behind human life ? If so, continue to in- 
vestigate the discoveries in heredity during the past forty 
or fifty years. 

We inherit Things only Potentially. Where were all 
the thoughts and ideas you have had since you began to 
read this chapter ? Did they already exist in your mind ? 
Did all the ideas and feelings you have had since you were 
born, exist in your mind as such at birth ? No, you only 
possessed the potentiality. For psychology things are con- 
tinually coming into existence. Creation is everywhere go- 
ing on. The great works of Shakespeare, Goethe, Beethoven^ 
and Eaphael did not exist in these men as actualities at 
birth, but only a combination of conditions that made 
such things possibilities ; neither did the military activi- 
ties and powerful ambition exist in Napoleon at birth; 
nor was Nero born a murderer — only the strong poten- 
tialities did he bring into the world. 



HEKEDITY AND E:NrVIEONME:N^T 



209 



Many hereditary qualities do not manifest themselves 
until maturity or even much later. Talents and diseases, 
mental, physical, and moral, may remain latent for many 
years. This delayed and unexpected unfolding of latent 
powers often causes us to attribute more to our educational 
efforts than is proper. We are often paralyzed by the 
sudden turn that life takes. Wagner was no less a product 
of heredity than Mozart, even if his genius did not develop 
until awakened by a fever at seventeen. 

A Chart to suggest Ideas of Individual Variations. Not 
only do individuals vary in the number and combination 
of qualities they inherit, but there are as many different 
degrees of potentiality in each quahty or power as there 
are individuals. Fear is an inherited instinct; but, all 
things else being equal, can you imagine any two individ- 
uals coming into the world with potentialities to fear 
exactly alike ? The same is true, of all potentialities man 
possesses. 

Chart showing Individual Variations 



IXDIVIDTALS 



Selfishness 

Fear 

Anger 

Tender emotions .... 

Sex impulse 

Curiosity 

Tmitativeness 

Initiativeness 

Tendency to seriousness or 
to melancholy .... 



No. 1 



60 
45 
50 
70 
65 
60 
70 
40 



50 



No. 2 



80 

20 
65 
40 
70 
65 
40 
70 

40 



No. 3 



50 
85 
25 
65 
45 
40 
75 
20 

70 



No. 4 



40 
25 
50 
55 
60 
65 
70 
20 

70 



No. 5 



35 

30 
20 
80 
65 
80 
20 
75 

90 



No. 6 



45 
70 
45 
55 
70 
25 
10 
90 

40 



210 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Let the numbers one to six inclusive stand for any six 
children. To the left is a list of several potentialities which 
the average child has in some degree on entering the world. 
These are only suggestive. The list might be made many 
times larger. Now suppose we were able to measure the 
greatest amount of selfishness, of fear, of imitation, of 
melancholy, that any individual could possibly possess, and 
in each case we let 100 represent that maximum. Then in 
all these qualities all other children will stand some place 
below 100, but probably no two at the same figure. Hence 
the figures I have placed in these columns opposite each 
potentiality are hypothetical suppositions that each child has 
such a per cent of the maximum possibility of fear, of imita- 
tion, etc. Notice that some of the potentialities are antago- 
nistic ; for example, fear and initiative are not good friends. 

Some one may claim that no six children differ as 
widely as these are made to differ. I do not know about 
that. They may vary less and they may vary more. Tliis 
is intended to suggest an idea, Not only is this general 
idea true, but I do not doubt that, were we able to measure 
the potential power of children's imagination, memory, 
reason, aesthetic appreciation, etc., we would be able to 
form a table similar to this. 

The numbers in heavy type indicate that that potenti- 
ality is probably strong enough to dominate all others that 
may stand in its way. Give a man a powerful impulse of 
selfishness and initiative and all opposing potentialities 
will be overcome. The melancholy disposition of Buddha 
left its stamp upon his whole life and dominated his inter- 
pretation of everything. The insatiable desire for knowl- 
edge that dominated Socrates would give place to nothing 



HEREDITY AND EN^YIEO]SrME:^T 211 

else. By a careful study of the great geniuses we might be 
able to make a chart approximately representing the power 
of the dominant potentialities that each brought into the 
world, and that directed the manifestation of their activities. 

Relation of Environment to Heredity. That heredity 
and environment determine the destiny of every organism 
born into the world is now no longer a question for dis- 
pute. But the most confused and entangled question of mod- 
ern times has arisen as to the relative importance and power 
of these two factors. Perfectly absurd things have been said 
and circulated in books as knowledge. I have no hope of 
clearing the atmosphere. I shall only make suggestions. 

I believe Dr. Saleeby has the correct idea and I shall 
follow him. Heredity is not a reality, not an actuality, to 
which environment adds something. It is not a question 
of addition, but of multiplication. Environment is the 
multiplier; heredity is the multiplicand. But the multi- 
plier must be of a denomination corresponding to the mul- 
tiplicand. Neither heredity nor environment furnishes any 
actualities. They are growths out of conditions. How 
absurd to think of environment furnishing fear, imitation, 
love, hate, etc. Whence do they come ? Do the clouds, the 
mountains, thunder and lightning, add melancholy, fear, 
admiration, wonder, or intelligence to the individual ? Have 
the physical elements these things to give ? Or do they 
simply furnish an opportunity for the manifestation of a 
potentiality ? But some say they are acquired from other 
people. Can you loan an idea or a feeling ? Or whence did 
these people get these things to loan ? From their ancestry ? 
And then whence ? 



212 ELEME:NrTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Under certain circumstances the Socratic potentialities 
of intelligence and morality would never have become 
actualities. If the multiplier is zero the result is zero. 
But as it was, practically the same multiplier was applied 
to thousands of the Athenians, but the results were accord- 
ing to the size of the multiplicand. No matter how large 
either factor is, if one is zero the result is zero. Environ- 
ment must have material on which to build, and the results 
are according to the quantity and quality of the material. 
If Eton produced Wellington, why does it not now pro- 
duce thousands like him ? There is abundance of mate- 
rial but it is not the right material. '' The truth is, Eton 
failed to destroy him." 

Education must build on what Nature furnishes. Edu- 
cation is vitally important and no one should underesti- 
mate its value. But I protest against the old view that it 
is the business of education to remedy the defects of 
Nature, to make all children alike where they are un- 
like, to force subjects on them and to build up in each 
case an artificial personality that has no relation to the 
true self. Nature made them unlike. Their inherent indi- 
viduality is sacred. When an individual does not abide by 
the habits, customs, and traditions of his age, he is looked 
upon as peculiar or insane. Fortunately he is usually not 
possessed of a psychological mania to make everybody else 
like himself, as weaker minds usually are. However, the 
molding process forced upon children of natural, inherent 
powers is external, superficial, and its results die with the 
individual. Personality is the manifestation of inherent 
power that abides eternally. 



HEEEDITY AND EXYIEONMENT 213 

A recent writer sums up the matter in these strong 
statements : " For the more primitive and fundamental 
traits in human nature, such as energy, capability, persist- 
ence, leadersliip, sympathy, and nobility, the whole world 
affords the stimulus, a stimulus that is present well-nigh 
everywhere. If a man's original nature will not respond 
to the need of these qualities and the rewards always 
ready for them, it is vain to expect nmch from the paltry 
exercises of the schoolroom. The channels in which 
human energy shall proceed, the specific intellectual and 
moral activities that shall profit by human capacities, are 
less determined by inborn traits. . . . We cannot create 
intellect, but we can prevent such a lamentable waste of 
it as was caused by scholasticism. . . . The one thing 
that educational theorists of to-day seem to place as the 
foremost duty of the schools — the development of powers 
and capacities — is the one thing that the schools or any 
other educational forces can do least." 

It is a foolish waste of life and energy to attempt to 
create capacities and interests where nature has fortified 
the individual against them. In the main, education is, as 
Plato characterized it, a process of weeding out and of 
selection more than of creation. 



CHAPTEE XI 
THE THINKING PROCESS AND ITS DEVELOPMENT 

Degree of Thinking. How shall I give a definite mean- 
ing to this word tliinhing ? Is it desirable even if I 
could strictly limit its meaning ? It is used by different 
individuals, and even by the same individual in a great 
variety of meanings. With many it is used as synonymous 
with consciousness,, especially with any form of introspec- 
tion approaching self-consciousness. We speak of general 
observation, common daydreaming, efforts to remember, 
playing with imaginary images, as thinking. Much of our 
thinking is only a train of images, one after another, but 
it must be admitted that through these we obtain rational 
results. They even lead to rational action and conduct. 
The clouds now* hovering on Pikes Peak may suggest 
many different trains of images to my mind and many 
ultimate results are possible. This may lead to dreaming 
over scenes gone by, or to practical reflections in connec- 
tion with this work. Only observe the stream of thought 
for a few moments and you will realize that we are moved 
from one point to another and comprehend not how. 

Daily and hourly do we infer conclusions, often of great 
importance, without being conscious of going through any 
logical reasoning process. Such inferences are often more 
accurate, and are often obtained when conscious logical 
reasoning would fail to give satisfactory results. 

214 



THE THINKING PEOCESS 215 

1 Intuitive reasoning is the best term we can apply to 
these practical inferences, obtained we scarcely know how. 
It is nearest akin to instinct, and is often joined to instinct 
in the higher animals and manifested in a very acute form. 
It is keenest in connection with one's personal interests. 
Danger from others is often inferred with great accuracy 
without any logical basis. It is a hybrid between instinct 
and Kantian reason, which is the climax of the consciously 
logical process. This intuitive power is reason in which 
one's individual interest fertilizes the intellect to an enor- 
mous degree. Such intellectual manifestations as sagacity 
in animals, the cunning and shrewdness of savages, the 
unexpected power of self-protection in emergencies, the 
so-called moral or immoral intuitions — these are some of 
the forms of intuitive reasoning, ivhicli is the ]?™^^ordial 
form of all reasoning, A study of primitive life will reveal 
how rarely savages reason concernmg things that do not 
directly and immediately affect their welfare. They have 
little to do with the roundabout, indirect, logical ways of 
reaching conclusions. 

2. Short-circuited logic is a form of reason differing 
from intuitive reason chiefly in its origin. They bear the 
same relation to each other that reflex action does to well- 
established habits. In the development of the latter the 
process was once vividly in consciousness, but gradu- 
ally dropped out. Such reasoning abides in nearly all 
perceptions. We once went through the logical process, 
but now we have forgotten it ; we short-circuit the process 
and go direct to the conclusion without any conscious- 
ness of what the logicians call a middle term. The roar 
of the river that I have not yet seen immediately suggests 



216 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

the conclusion of a waterfall ; a cry, the thought of some 
one drowning ; a mother's tears, that it is her child who is 
drowning. In these and ten thousand other inferences or 
conclusions there is no reasoning process in the strict 
sense of the term. Reason in the logical and general psy- 
chological sense is applicable mainly to new conditions and 
to analysis. 

3. We now have two alternatives. Either we must give 
a perfectly arbitrary definition to thinking^ or we must 
extend it indefinitely down the scale until it fades away 
into pure habit, instinct, and reflex action, in which con- 
sciousness is present, but plays no part in their production. 
I believe that so long as our chief end in such a study as 
this is not fine distinctions and definitions, but interest^ 
soul power, and attitude of mind^ we will do well to accept 
the second alternative. 

A vast amount of time is spent in making word dis- 
tinctions where there is never ^felt difference. Dr. Mercier 
gives an amusing example from a writer on psychology. 
" The rat," says this writer, '' occupies a very low position 
in the scale of animal intelligence. It possesses great cun- 
ning begotten of centuries of ceaseless persecution at the 
hands of man, and this no doubt passes for intelligence 
among those who fail to discriminate between the two." 
This Mercier calls '' a distinction without a difference." 

We may conceive of the process of thinking as a devel- 
opment containing a great variety of stages and manifes- 
tations. I suggest that, for those who demand a limitation, 
thinking be applied to the entire process, and that reason 
in the strict sense be applied to the conscious logical process 
only. This is the limited sense in which Wundt uses the 



THE THIXKIIS^G PEOCESS 217 

term when he says, '' Animals do not reason and few men 
do." But between this conscious logical process and the 
short-circuited reason of habit there are forms of dimly 
conscious and semiconscious logic. In the highest mani- 
festations of genius we shall later see intuitive and 
short-circuited reason arriving at deep and fundamental 
principles. 

Thought and Progress. If we use thought in its widest 
and best sense, it is almost synonymous with progress. 
Often individuals or a whole people may claim to be guided 
by the power of thought, when a careful psychological 
analysis shows habit and custom to be a powerful substitute 
for thinking, which triumphs over an army of logical contra- 
dictions. But thought in the higher sense is active and 
aggressive. It is ever seeking for possible contradictions, 
missing links, undiscovered laws, higher and better ways 
of doing things, new systems of adaptation to new con- 
ditions. JVew conditions always involve new factors which 
the former reasoning could not take into account. Society 
continually profits by the man of thought and discernment 
who thinks beyond his own needs. The progress of human 
knowledge has been a Herculean struggle. It is essentially 
a creative process. Even though a life is spent in giving 
to the world a single truth, revealing a single law or prin- 
ciple, such becomes a creative cause out of which the 
wheels of time will grind many new forms of existence. 
When a great thinker is turned loose on the planet, then 
all things are in danger ; the conflict is on, and modifications 
must follow. The history of this thought-conflict is the 
history of progress. Man is the creator of new worlds. 



218 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

By this thought-power man won in the mighty and long 
conflict with the other animal creation, with extinct man, 
with the conservative standstill man. By it he evolved 
the high forms of art, literature, science, morals, civilization, 
and inventions. By the same power will man some day 
produce still higher and more perfect forms to take the 
place of these. Who has said the last word on art, litera- 
ture, science ? On the supposition that we discover no laws 
now unknown, I may say that it will be impossible to run 
a train five hundred miles an hour. But who knows what 
is yet to be discovered ? Eeason looketh not backward, 
but ever marcheth on toward the superman. 

Causes of Inaccurate Reasoning. Many reason poorly, 
if at all; few reason well. Let us briefly reason why. 
Shall we do as we once did — call formal logic to our aid, 
hoping to cure this widespread disease ? 

1. Heredity is a great factor in determining this differ- 
ence among men. All men are not born free and equal. 
Let us accept this great biological truth and make the 
most of it. Furthermore, instinctive interest and aesthetic 
taste largely determine the line along which the giant 
minds of earth operate. The misguided efforts of parents 
and educators could not thwart the mind of Schiller or 
Goethe from its destined line of operation. The powers of 
poverty and persecution could not compel Wagner to other 
lines of activity ; the powers of heredity made him a musi- 
cian and stimulated thought in that line. Again, the majority 
of men have no ambition to reason beyond their own inter- 
ests. They have no world view. They lack both the thirst 
of ambition and the desire for fame to spur them on. 



THE THIXKIXG PEOCESS 219 

2. Absence of adequate material is a source of incorrect 
conclusions. Even from the pen of the great minds of earth 
a volume of such errors could be collected. Because of 
the blind allegiance given to him, the error of Aristotle 
concerning spots on the sun has become famous. In early 
life every available opportunity should be used to store 
the mind with a great variety of vivid images and exten- 
sive concepts. Observations of all kinds in Nature's out- 
of-doors are very essential. I would emphasize again that 
tliinking is present in all observations and comparisons 
from the beginning. No child can describe an object with- 
out comparing and thinking in some of the forms we have 
presented. Without thought no child can construct an 
imaginary playhouse. 

Later in life this lack of material is often lamentably 
wanting in the specific line of the individual's thought 
activity. The boast of Pestalozzi that he had not read a 
book in thirty years accounts for many of his limited and 
erroneous conclusions. I know men too obstinate to in- 
form themselves as to what others have thought in their 
line of thinking. But it is psychologically interesting to 
note that such a condition of mind is usually destructive, 
not constructive and progressive. 

3. Habit and apperception have already been shown to 
be powerful factors in shaping, directing, and interpret- 
ing the reasoning process. Little more need be said 
here. Under the power of habit and apperception the 
boldest contradictions are winked at and ignored. At 
the same time the victims of this power will conduct 
themselves like madmen concerning the inconsistencies 
and contradictions of others. 



220 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

4. Strong emotion interferes with accurate judgment. 
Tolerance is the glory of empiricism and experimentation ; 
intolerance, the shame of idealism and belief. Belief is 
always both emotional and intellectual. Doubt opens the 
gateway of the reasoning process ; belief closes it. All 
conclusions are in a manner beliefs, but they differ in the 
way they are held, depending largely upon the emotional 
element entering into them. Some beliefs are accompanied 
by the mental reservation that, with all the evidence now 
at hand, such and such must be true ; but this imphes at 
least the possibility that to-morrow may present new con- 
ditions and new facts. Until then I am content. Happy, 
tolerant, and charitable is the man who has reached such 
a mental height in all his behefs. On the contrary, some 
individuals are certain that the future cannot and never 
will reveal any conditions touching their cherished beliefs. 
Emotional interest forbids the thought of any such possi- 
bility. The strongest power of apperception is manifested 
under the emotions of love, religion, and pohtics. 

Some very interesting psychological phenomena are re- 
vealed in the transitional stages of belief. For example, 
some new ideas are making headway on the old. The firm 
believer in the old may, in all apparent smcerity, pro- 
claim the new ideas crazy and nonsensical, and declare 
that truth cannot be touched by such groundless ideas. 
Yet he shows all signs of uneasiness and even calls to 
arms his ''warriors." Has he short-circuited a conclusion 
which his logic will not concede ? 

5. Defective education and training is the cause of 171- 
correct thinking. Not only should there be abundance 
of material for thinking, but the child should be given 



THE THINKIISTG PEOCESS 221 

freedom in the use of it, being guided only by suggestions. 
All efforts to compel the child to cast his thoughts in a 
given mold, to cause him to rely on authority, to prohibit 
doubt, or to discredit originality even though it be wrong, 
build a dike in front of spontaneity and make it pretty cer- 
tain that the average individual will be a slave to custom 
and convention the remainder of his days. 

All judgments are the result of the application of stand- 
ards of measurement. If I lie on my back and judge the 
distance to the stars ; or if I estimate the volume of water 
pouring over the falls, by the sound ; or if I pronouncQ 
judgment on the moral character of the person who has 
just passed, by his looks, or on the sincerity of the Presi- 
dent, by some act, it is all done by standards of measure- 
ment which are largely the product of education. Such 
judgments will vary in their degree of accuracy, largely 
according to our previous habits and education. 

The continual wrangling which we hear among men, 
accusing each other of inability to think, is in reality due 
not so much to any failure in the process of thinking, as to 
the fact that such men have different standards of com- 
parison. What is more, this standard, whether it be applied 
to sensuous, economic, political, moral, or religious judg- 
ments, is not the same for the boy as for the girl ; for the 
cliild as for the adolescent ; for the youth as for the adult ; 
for the practical man as for the clergyman ; for the poet as 
for tlie scientist. It varies at different periods of life ; for 
people of different temperaments ; for different periods of 
the world's history. In forming such standards the impor- 
tance of wide experience and contact with people cannot 
be overestimated. 



222 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Proper Positive Education of the Thinking Process is the 
Supreme Demand in All Education. To this end a few posi- 
tive suggestions may not be out of place. 

1. Never let the child lose an opportunity to widen his 
field of thinking. 

2. Have the child acquire the habit of noting likenesses 
and differences and of applying a classification that is more 
than words. Classifications and distinctions ready-made 
for us cripple thinking. 

3. More time must be given the child to mature his 
thoughts. The teacher who is always thinking for her 
children because they do not tliink fast enough should 
have staring her in the face Eousseau's paradox : '' The 
whole art of education is the art of losing time ! " 

4. Eeasoning by analogy is sometimes dangerous, but it 
is also necessary and profitable. Primitive peoples reasoned 
by analogy first. We know nothing about the psychology 
of animals save by analogy. The same is true in mere 
observation of others. I saw a woman receive a telegram, 
wring her hands, and weep. How did I know she was sad ? 
History is full of reasoning by analogy. In " The Eepublic " 
Plato uses it with powerful effect. Students should learn to 
search for analogies, and to criticize those that are not valid. 

5. The difference between coincidence and cause and 
effect should be taught. For example, it is often argued that 
the development of civilization, art, and science is due to 
the growth of Christianity. It could also be argued that the 
growth of intelligence, art, and science made possible 
the conception and development of a higher religion ; or 
it may be argued that they are mutually helpful and 
continually act and react on each otlier. 



THE THINKING PEOCESS 223 

6. Good fiction is a powerful- stimulus to thinking. This 
is especially true if students are led to discover the sym- 
bolic nature of the great pieces of literature. For example, 
in Goethe's great work, Faust may be conceived as sym- 
bolic of all humanity ; Mephistoijlieles, or the devil, as all 
evil tendencies in man ; wdiile Wagner is a splendid sym- 
bol of all macliine-, book-made men. In Tolstoi's " War 
and Peace,'' Napoleon is the embodiment of ambition; the 
whole family of Balkonshys represent a simple, unspoiled 
civilization; while the Rostovs represent a spoiled and 
decaying civilization. Fiction properly taught is a thought 
tonic sure to produce results. 

The Formation and Development of Concepts. The for- 
mal steps usually given are: (1) presentation of material; 
(2) comparison; (3) abstraction; (4) generalization; and 
(5) nammg. These steps need some explanation. Observe 
a child forming the concept dog. Let us suppose that the 
first presentation of material is a small white dog. The 
child observes its long hair, its color, its size, hears it bark, 
etc. AVhether the child be given the name clog or not, he 
has just one image, and, should he never see another dog, 
the word dog would ever after stand for that image and 
that alone. If later the child sees a small hJach dog, what 
wall be the mental process ? If he notes by comparison 
with its mental image that all the other qualities of dog 
are present, he will now ignore or abstract the quality color, 
classify the object with the memory image, and name it 
dog. ; The child is not conscious of going through these 
processes, but the same thing will take place so long as 
dogs with any new quality are presented. Many different 



224 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

colors, sizes, length of hair, ears, general shape, behavior, 
kindness, barking, etc., must from time to time be ignored 
or abstracted in classifying the object as a dog. 

When will the possibility of enlarging this concept dog 
cease ? Only when it is no longer possible to see a dog 
having any quality different from those already presented. 
So we may say that the development of concepts is prac- 
tically never completed. No one ever saw a dog so large 
that another larger might not be found or produced. What 
is true of this concept dog is true of every concept ever 
formed, be it a concept of apple, man, mountain, numbers, 
lying, goodness, virtue, evil, space, time, God, or the devil. 
And so long as there is any material possible to he prese7ited 
to the groiuing mind, these concepts are never absolutely 
fixed. This is another way of proclaiming the impor- 
tant truth that, for the individual, words have no fixed 
meanings. Of necessity the thinking man's idea of God 
must be different from that of the man who has long 
since ceased to think in the sense of enlarging his con- 
cepts. The thief's idea of stealing must be different from 
that of the people. A thousand great pieces of literature 
in a thousand different ways proclaim these great facts ; 
yet most people plod on, thinking that concepts are fixed 
entities which may be realized once for all by learning 
definitions. 

The inadequacy of the so-called laws of thought is re- 
vealed by the fact that words have no fixed meaning. Take, 
as an example, the Law of the Excluded Middle — every- 
thing must either be or not be. This sounds well, but it 
is only formal truth. Psychologically it is not true. It as- 
sumes that there are definite lines of demarcation between 



THE THmKIKG PEOCESS 225 

concepts. It assumes that content abides in words and 
classification and tliat words lidixe fixed meayiings. Under 
this law each man is either good or not-good. But good is 
only a comparative term without a fixed meaning. From 
some aspects the man may be good, from others bad. Com- 
pared with the present man he may be not-good ; compared 
with savages he may be good. The paper on wliich I write 
may be not-good for the use to which I am putting it, but 
for kindling a fire I fancy it would be admirable. All 
formal logic is, just as Kant demonstrated, what its name 
imphes — tvithoid a content. 

Genius, the Star of Hope. Ifo man can draw^ a line 
separating mediocrity from genius. They are simply the 
two extremes of an infinite number and variety of intel- 
lectual gradations. For practical purposes we designate 
the individual whose achievements in any line stand far 
above the average of mankind, a genius. What is above 
the average and liotv far above are in a measure determined 
by popular sentiment. When a great genius like Nietzsche 
attacks our institutions he must be much farther above 
the average than when an inventor gives us a useful 
necessity of life, like the printing press. In the former 
case he must overcome habit, custom, and strong social 
and religious prejudice. 

There are different orders of genius — financial genius, 
military genius, inventive genius, scientific genius, moral 
genius, artistic and literary genius. Each of these has its 
stars of varying magnitudes. Comparison here is folly. 
When a boy I heard two explanations of genius. We were 
told that attention makes the genius and creates his intense 



226 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

interest But the reverse is the truth. It is mainly inhe- 
rent and intense interest that produces keen attention to 
the necessary details and relations unobserved by others. 
Agam, we were told that the secret of genius is hard work. 
But whence comes that endowment of determination and 
endurance so rare among men ? 

The literary, artistic, political, or moral genius must 
burst the bonds of custom and tradition, must rise above 
the social forces, and create something beyond his age. 
The psychical processes are usually highly intuitive and 
often semiconscious. I know of no way by which the 
race can make substantial advancement to higher stand- 
ards along these lines save by the free and untrammelled 
outbursts of such rare souls. The genius that creates 
must also destroy. " In the world of ideals there is no 
stability." But even the good and the just of all ages 
would crucify those that invent new standards, especially 
if the people seem inchned to accept them. Certainly 
much dross will be mixed with the little quantity of gold. 
Shall we trust the human heart ? What gloomy pessimism 
hangs over us if we do not ! 

With all due respect to the shades of the mighty dead, 
whether Greek or barbarian, I will build my faith on the 
young uncorrupted souls of the children of this and suc- 
ceeding generations, if only we will learn to permit their 
souls to unfold in whatever original ways Nature dictates, 
and with as much freedom as the children who once sat 
by " the deep-sounding sea " ; and if only we will cease 
to feel that they must think, feel, believe, and act as we 
do in order to save them from destruction and from intel- 
lectual bankruptcy. 



THE THINKING PEOCESS 227 

To those who teach the young as if we to-day were in 
possession of all the laws of art, aesthetics, literature, mor- 
als, etc., and that now we need only to apply them, Goethe 
gives a just rebuke. He says : " Oh my friend, why is it 
that the torrent of genius so seldom bursts forth, so sel- 
dom rolls in full-floA\ing stream, overwhelming your as- 
tounded soul ? Because on either side of this stream cold 
and respectable persons have taken up their abodes, and, 
forsooth, their summer houses and tulip beds would suffer 
from the torrent ; therefore they dig trenches and raise em- 
bankments betimes, in order to avert the impending danger." 

Not only must the true genius be unhampered by out- 
side conditions, but he must also be free from his past self. 
Well does Xietzsche say of the creator, '' Thou must be 
ready to burn thyself in thine own flame." 

Language and Thought-Discipline. Ever since the days 
of Platonic dialectics there has existed a gi^eat temptation 
to identify luords and things^ language and thought ; that is, 
the absolute meaning of the word is the same as its abstract 
reality. Many have considered thought impossible with- 
out language. Much of our past education, especially lan- 
guage study, assumed, half unconsciously of course, that 
to acquire skill in language was to secure thought-discipline. 

Although language study is made the chief business of 
our schools, thought-discipline is so defective that some 
have declared that language perverts and clouds thought. 
^Miat are the essential facts ? 

1. Language of whatever kind is only a tool of thought. 
That thought cannot exist without language is absolutely 
without foundation unless we include in language every 



228 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

conceivable sign. Even animals may possess some signs, 
incomprehensible to us, that stand for general notions to 
them. But when the educator thinks of language he 
does not include these gestures, pictures, symbols, move- 
ments, bodily states, etc. In the chapter on Evolution this 
broad development of language is briefly suggested. Lan- 
guage does not give origin to the states of soul that are 
symbolized in such a variety of ways, but these symbols fix 
meanings and provide the way for communication of like 
states of soul. 

2. With the development of intelligence has gone a 
refinement in the use of signs to fix meanings. Natural 
objects were probably the first signs for intellectual mean- 
ings. Just as clouds may be the sign of rain to savages 
who have no name for such a phenomenon, so natural 
objects are doubtless extensively used by children and 
animals to designate certain accompanying phenomena. 
As Professor Dewey points out, these signs have several 
limitations. Artificial signs of sounds, gestures, and move- 
ments make the meaning more definite and give more 
flexibility in their application. The higher we progress 
in these signs the more useful they are for organizing 
ideas and making meanings more distinct. As these signs 
become more adapted to transfer meaning they also give 
greater fixity to that content. The detachment of a sign 
puts limits on the meaning. 

3. Speech forms are the highest and most perfected 
signs or tools of the mind. The next stage is their organ- 
ization into sentences. Some one has well said that de- 
ficiency in intelligence is due not only to the need of ideas, 
but essentially to deficiency in organization of ideas. The 



THE THINKING PROCESS 229 

meaning of things involves their relations to other things. 
Hence teaching mere things, whether of objects or mere 
words, has little value as thought-discipline. Such may 
positively be a damage. Symbols are more dangerous 
than things. If they are once detached from things or 
experiences, without having been first filled with a content 
from intercourse and contact with things, they are indeed 
as "sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." 

So language occupies a very unique place in human 
experience. If pursued as an end in itself, as is often the 
case through our whole course of education, it actually 
arrests thought-discipline and turns the mind from inner 
content to outer form. If space permitted, it would not be 
difficult to present abundance of proof. A glance at our 
miserable effort to teach mathematics is all that is neces- 
sary. On the other hand, without language and a constant 
growth and refinement of our native tongue there could be 
no accumulated intellectual powers. Fine thought distinc- 
tions must have some adequate symbols to preserve them 
and bring them into proper relations to other symbols. 

4. Thought-discipline encounters a serious difficulty in 
its effort to pass beyond the common distinctions, espe- 
cially in dealing with abstract symbols. So keenly did 
Dr. Brinton feel this difficulty that he names Language as 
one of the five factors in the way of progress. Suppose that 
by keen intellectual insight and wide organized thinking 
an individual sees differentiations in thought not made 
before, or puts a much wider meaning into old terms ; if he 
continues the use of the old symbols, he will be thinking 
one thing and, to his hearers, saying another. If he uses 
new or unusual symbols, he is sure to be only partially 



230 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

understood. In dealing with abstractions the intellectual 
wars among men originate chiefly in this dilemma. Thus 
language in a measure compels uniformity of thought and 
holds back the individual who would be on the heights. 
Every powerful mind realizes these limitations. The 
struggle of creative art is a struggle to overcome these limi- 
tations and more fully to express the soul in higher symbols. 
Nothing gives poise and serenity of soul like a conscious- 
ness of power to transcend these limitations. This alone is 
true freedom and results from trained thought-power. 

5. Conformity to established opinions is often readily ac- 
cepted as thought-discipline. The thinking of the Middle 
Ages consisted in accepting these opinions, and then, by 
syllogistic reasoning and play with empty symbols, main- 
taining them. Scientific reasoning is everywhere opposed 
by these established opinions. Plato says opinion is three 
steps removed from truth. We can do no better than to 
quote Professor Dewey's description of this public thinking: 
" Certain men or classes of men come to be the accepted 
guardians and transmitters — instructors — of estabhshed 
doctrines. To question the beliefs is to question their 
authority ; to accept the beliefs is evidence of loyalty to 
the powers that be, a proof of good citizenship. Passivity, 
docility, acquiescence, come to be primal intellectual vir- 
tues. Facts and events presenting novelty and variety are 
slighted, or are sheared down till they fit into the Pro- 
crustean bed of habitual belief. Inquiry and doubt are 
silenced by citation of ancient laws or a multitude of mis- 
cellaneous and unsifted cases. This attitude of mind gen- 
erates dislike of change, and the resulting aversion to 
novelty is fatal to progress. What will not fit into the 



THE THINKING PEOCESS 231 

established canons is outlawed ; men who make new dis- 
coveries are objects of suspicion and even of persecution. 
Beliefs that perhaps originally were the products of fairly 
extensive and careful observation are stereotyped into fixed 
traditions and semi-sacred dogmas accepted simply upon 
authority, and are mixed with fantastic conceptions that 
happen to have won the acceptance of authorities." 

6. The positive and legitimate use of language as a 
powerful aid in developing thinking power must be duly 
recognized by every system of education. The foregoing 
defects are mostly the results of that misconception by 
wliich the order of thought and language is exactly re- 
versed. To believe in words is one thing and to use words 
to differentiate and to express ideas is a quite different 
thing. Many abstractions of mathematics, science, and 
philosophy would be impossible without adequate symbols, 
and without the use of other words to limit and to approxi- 
mate a definition. All definitions are only approximations, 
nevertheless they are necessary to the advancement and 
refinement of thinking. Eeading the works of such keen 
thinkers as Metzsche, filled with fine distinctions and 
possible double meanings, must have a tonic effect on any 
active mind. Appropriate ivorcl symhols applied at the 
proper time under the proper conditions are poivers in 
provoking thought, hut words without thought are dangerous. 



CHAPTEE XII 

suggestio:n^ and mental healing 

Few subjects are of more practical and public interest 
than the ones we are now to consider. Indeed, taken in 
their largest aspects, I doubt if there are any other phases 
of psychology so important for the general public. But 
would it be possible to find another subject concerning 
which there is such a diversity and confusion of opinions? 
These opinions range all the way from pure hard-headed 
skepticism concerning well-established facts, to a faith 
and belief that disregards law and common sense. It is 
a field in wliich people are inclined to believe either too 
much or not enough. Some entirely deny the scientific 
facts of hypnotism, and utterly ignore the daily manifes- 
tations of suggestion. Others accept, without questioning, 
all the miraculous reports about hypnotism and mental 
healmg. I recently received a letter from a college gradu- 
ate seriously asking how much faith she should put in a 
woman now established in Denver and claiming to be able 
to reduce "fat" by mail and without drugs. My reply 
was that her only hope would be in the worry she might 
have over the loss of her foolishly w^asted money. 

This condition of the public mind is due to several 
causes. In the first place the field is not occupied by 
scientific investigators only, but quacks, fakers, and char- 
latans parade the streets in robes that modesty forbids 

232 



SUGGESTION AND MENTAL HEALING 233 

science to wear. In this manner the unscientific mas- 
querade as the scientific. Again, the entanglement of these 
subjects with old beliefs and religions has much to do 
with these extreme views. We should also observe that the 
scientific development has been very rapid and that new dis- 
coveries are continually being announced. I shall now at- 
tempt a brief statement of what I believe will be accepted 
by any well-trained observer, and what already is generally 
accepted by science. In a work of this kind I will have 
nothing to do with the extreme views. I am also confident 
that the limits now accepted will soon need to be modified. 

Degrees of Suggestibility. Not only do different indi- 
viduals differ in their susceptibility to suggestion, but the 
same individual varies under different conditions. There 
are many degrees of suggestibility, ranging from the lowest 
to the extreme phenomena in thoroughly hypnotized sub- 
jects. For convenience I shall roughly mark off four fields 
of suggestion. 

1. In ordinary waking life every one is amenable to 
suggestion in some degree. The examples are legion, and 
may be verified a thousand times under the simplest con- 
ditions. Suggestibility is the power behind imitation, in 
both its conscious and unconscious forms. Suggestibility 
is the tendency to carry into effect ideas and images re- 
ceived from others, without reflection on the relations and 
results. Such ideas and images may be unconsciously 
received and acted upon. The whole great field of uncon- 
scious imitation belongs here. The best methods of training 
children rely most on well-directed suggestion. Character 
and conduct are largely results of suggestion. 



234 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Children are more amenable to direct suggestion than 
adults, who have learned by experience to be on their 
guard. But even adults are open to thousands of sugges- 
tions, especially if they come in indirect ways. Daily do 
we declare that we have made up our mind or decided to do 
so and so, when in reality it was perhaps the shrewd sug- 
gestions of others, dropped when the '' iron was hot," that 
decided all. A student was once trying to decide w^hether 
she should go home for a short vacation. She had practically 
decided not to go. After the little group had talked and 
jested for some time, an amusing case of homesickness was 
intentionally related, but without reference to the decision 
in hand. The young lady left, but some hours later re- 
turned with a fixed determination to go home. If we want 
to see the suggestibility of children manifested in adults, 
observe an audience in the hands of a master magician. 

Some years ago Dr. Small performed a few valuable 
experiments on a large number of Boston school children 
in the grades and high school. He told them he was gotag 
to spray a strong odor in the room, and asked each one to 
write the name of the odor detected. An enormous number 
of different kinds of odors were given. The total- experi- 
ments showed that over sixty per cent yielded to the 
suggestion. He had sprayed pure distilled loater. Various 
other tests gave like results. We can get similar results 
any morning by suggesting that the milk has been watered, 
that the meat is spoiled. Violent sickness has been known 
to result from the suggestion that some article of food 
contained poison. These are a few examples of suggesti- 
bility in ordinary life. Any schoolboy can multiply them 
either by observation or experimentation. 



SUGGESTION AND MENTAL HEALING 235 

2. The social, political, riotous mob spirit is due prima- 
rily to the suggestibility of crowds. Careful analysis will 
reveal several important differences between individual and 
collective suggestion. All writers on social psychology now 
declare increased suggestibility a characteristic of the crowd. 
The critical faculty is greatly weakened. The exciting 
cause absorbs all attention. Le Bon says, " The impossible 
does not exist for a crowd." This he thinks accounts for 
the creation and propagation of the most improbable leg- 
ends and stories. Affirmation, repetition, and contagion 
are the needed factors in exciting the social organism. 
More elaborate treatment of this topic mil be found in 
the chapter on Social Psycliology. 

3. We are indebted to Dr. Sidis for the third general 
form of suggestion. Suggestibility is intensified in the pas- 
sive, semiwaking, or "subwaking" state. Dr. Sidis distin- 
guishes this form of suggestion from hypnotism, and calls 
it Hypnoidization. Name it as we will, it exists and must 
be taken into account. The early idea that hypnotic sug- 
gestion has no effect while the subject is yet conscious of 
his surroundings has long since been proved to be false. 
Several physicians who once used hypnotism now maintain 
that the hypnotic sleep is unnecessary, holding that sugges- 
tion is equally effective for medical purposes without the 
sleep stage. Dr. Bramwell is one of the most noted exam- 
ples. For many years he has had remarkable success as a 
hypnotist. He now uses suggestion, without putting the pa- 
tient to sleep ; it corresponds to the subwaking suggestions 
we are considering. This state is the border land between 
waking and sleeping. The essential conditions are only 
two — relaxation or passivity^ and monotony of some kind. 



236 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

4. Hypnotic Suggestion. Just as natural sleep is pre- 
ceded by gradual loss of consciousness, which may or may 
not pass into sound sleep, so the hypnotic sleep is preceded 
by the subwaking state, which may or may not, according 
to conditions, pass into the hypnotic sleep. In the hypnotic 
sleep the power of suggestion, which may be traced in its 
development from the imitation of animals up to this point, 
reaches its maximum. 

This preliminary classification has been made to widen 
our ideas about the extent and power of suggestion. For 
myself I can see no absolute distinction between these 
degrees of suggestibility. I believe suggestibility is the 
best general term to apply to this whole class of phenomena. 
Then for practical purposes we should differentiate by 
recognizing waking suggestion^ subwaking suggestion, crowd 
suggestion^ and hypnotic suggestion, Bernheim has aban- 
doned the use of the term hypnotism, and recognizes instead 
degrees of suggestibility. 

History of Hypnotic Phenomena. Hypnotism was not 
unknown to the ancients, and has, doubtless, unconsciously 
played no small part in producing many of the otherwise 
inexplicable phenomena in the development of man. Under 
its modern form it began with Mesmer and was known as 
mesmerism. The phenomena which he described have been 
common to human history. Mesmer and his first followers 
believed that they produced the phenomena by applying 
physical means, such as passes, strained gazing at objects, 
etc. A trancelike state followed. A force or fluid was 
supposed to pass from the agent to the subject. This was 
the explanation. Its chief practical application and claim 



SUGGESTIO:^^ AND MENTAL HEALING 237 

for recognition was the healing of diseases. It is needless 
to dwell on the blind opposition excited in the medical 
world. You may turn your imagination loose ; it will do 
no injustice. 

About 1831, Dr. EUiotson, a brilliant scholar and phy- 
sician, began to investigate mesmerism. He was then a 
professor in University College, London. His experiments 
were very successful. This aroused bitter opposition, and 
he was ordered to cease mesmerizing his patients. This he 
did, but immediately resigned his position. We owe much 
to the determined scholarly efforts of this man, whose faith 
was all in the future. No persecution could deter him from 
the path of progress. 

Another talented college graduate. Dr. Esdaile, became 
very efficient in mesmerism. In 1846 he was given charge 
of a small mesmeric hospital in Calcutta. At the close of 
the year he reported one hundred thirty-three painless 
surgical operations, performed under what we now call 
hypnotism. But in spite of his success, the favorable 
report of the official visitors, and a petition signed by three 
hundred natives, the hospital was closed. Another was 
immediately opened by voluntary subscription. Before he 
left India he reported thousands of simple operations and 
some three hundred severe ones. 

Braid first Hfted the veil of mystery from mesmerism 
and demonstrated that the phenomena are produced sub- 
jectively. He did away with the fluid theory, showed that 
physical appliances were not the direct cause, and renamed 
the process hypnotism. He proposed to teach any intelligent 
medical man to do what he had done. Such training is 
now given in many medical schools. 



238 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

How Increased Suggestibility, called Hypnosis, is pro- 
duced. There are almost as many different methods as 
there are individuals practicing the art, but all have cer- 
tain characteristics in common. We have already seen that 
the gateway to the hypnotic state is through the subwaking 
state. This is secured chiefly by relaxation and abstraction, 
or attention to some monotonous disturbance. Attention 
centered on some one thing is the primary element. 

1. Efforts to administer suggestion should be preceded 
by a statement to the subject that all people yield to sug- 
gestion in some degree ; that he will not experience any 
more shocks or unpleasant sensations than he does in going 
to sleep ; that no harm will come to him now or after- 
wards ; that to be hypnotized is not a proof of weakness ; 
that he may not even lose consciousness ; that he must 
not be discouraged even by absolute failure, as many sub- 
jects must be tried many times ; that the suggestions will 
be given with an exaggerated emphasis ; that to struggle 
and resist is to fail in the undertaking. This being done, 
he may be seated in a comfortable chair, or, better, he may 
lie down on a couch. He should then center his entire atten- 
tion upon sleep. This is facilitated by having him fix his 
eyes upon some object held from twelve to eighteen inches 
in front of him, or by having him look you squarely in the 
eye. The monotony is kept up by the constant suggestions 
of the operator about sleep. He is instructed to close his 
eyes when the eyelids feel heavy. Slight pressure on the 
eyeballs and forehead, with the statement " you have now 
gone to sleep," will help. Tell him he is asleep but not un- 
conscious ; that he will not move a muscle until bidden to 
do so. The subject is now ready to receive suggestions. 



SUGGESTION AND MENTAL HEALING 239 

2. Drugs and narcotics are sometimes used to help in 
the production of the hypnotic sleep. Dr. Herrero, pro- 
fessor of Chnical Medicine at Valladolid, selected six sub- 
jects whom he had failed to hypnotize. By administering 
a small amount of chloroform he secured unexpected re- 
sults. Bernheim has found doses of chloral helpful in 
inducing eleep. Some authorities claim to have changed 
natural sleep into hypnotic sleep. 

Phenomena of Hypnotic Suggestion. 1. Having secured 
a hypnotic sleep, what follows ? There are no phenomena 
common to all subjects, so what is suggested may, but 
does not of necessity, occur. In some subjects the sleep 
may be so deep that by suggestion the muscles become 
contracted and remain where placed. This is known as 
catalepsy. Bernheim believes that all persons w^ho pass 
the first stage can be put into the cataleptic condition. In 
some degree muscular power can he increased by suggestion. 
The muscles may be paralyzed by suggestion singly as 
well as in groups. All experimenters agree that the nor- 
mal power of all the senses may be somewhat increased 
by hypnotic suggestion. Hunger and thirst may be pro- 
duced by such suggestions. Changes of personality and 
hallucinations of various kinds may be produced by hyp- 
notic suggestion. Insensibility to pain or touch may be 
produced in various parts of the body. 

To distinguish the active hypnotic subject from the 
waking individual by general appearance is difficult. He 
is conscious and alert, and, from general appearances, wide- 
awake. Still he is obedient to suggestions of the operator. 
With the exaggerated accounts of what has been and what 



240 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

may be done by subjects in hypnosis I have nothing to 
do. I positively know that practice, cultivated strength, 
artistic skill, and deception account for most of the things 
seen in public exhibitions. 

2. Posthypnotic suggestion has deepened our psycho- 
logical and even moral interest in the study of suggestion. 
Usually everything ends the minute the individual is told 
to " wake up." It was first found that some of the condi- 
tions could be carried over to the waking state, if such 
suggestions were given previous to waking up. For 
example, a patient has a boil on his hand lanced. By 
suggestion the part is made insensible to pain. By post- 
hypnotic suggestion Dr. Bramwell says he continues this 
insensibility to pain after waking. 

The large application of the posthypnotic suggestion now 
points toward moral and physical health conditions. As we 
shall later see, it is an important factor in mental healing. 
For several years there lias been operated in Paris a school 
for curing children of many moral and physical defects, 
largely by the influence of posthypnotic suggestion. So 
thoroughly estabhshed are the results of this school that the 
State is likely to take charge and support it. Its value has 
been thoroughly tested in this country. In the medical pro- 
fession we have a large literature on suggestive therapeutics. 
There can be no doubt that the drink habit, cigarette habit, 
sexual habits, nervousness, and a large number of disorders 
have been successfully treated in this manner. 

Popular Errors concerning Hypnotic Suggestion. 1. I 
have found people so conceited about their superiority as to 
believe that only weak-minded persons can be hypnotized. 



SUGGESTIOX AND ME:^TAL HEALIXG 241 

Others do not have such exalted ideas of themselves, 
but would like to keep their supposed weakness a secret. 
So far is all this from the truth, that one authority has 
said that small cliildren, savages, and idiots are the diffi- 
cult classes to hypnotize. Intelligent, sensible people are 
the best subjects. We must note, however, that this is 
quite in contrast to croivd-suggestion. 

2. The number that may be hypnotized is immensely 
larger than is generally supposed, but the fact that many 
subjects never lose consciousness has led to widely different 
estimates, especially by those who only theorize. Fifteen pro- 
fessionalists' reports in 1892 showed 8705 cases attempted 
with only 519 failures, about six per cent. The most conserv- 
ative claims are that ninety to ninety-five per cent, irrespec- 
tive of sex, age, or health, are susceptible to the influence 
of hypnotic suggestion. The supposed immune are often 
hypnotized after many trials or under changed conditions. 

3. The operator does not possess any rare supernatural 
gift any more than a surgeon does. Braid's offer, made long 
ago, to teach any intelligent physician the art, is safer to-day 
than ever before. It requires keen psychological observa- 
tion, attention to little things, patience, skill, faith in your 
ultimate success. I once saw a surgeon, at the urgent re- 
quest of two other surgeons, consent to perform a serious 
operation on the brain. I then watched him walking up and 
down the corridors while the patient was being prepared. 
His air of confidence deeply impressed me. I thought of 
how skill and confidence react on each other. 

4. The populace feel that great physical and moral 
wrong may come from hypnotism. Any physician has in 
his hands power for wrong far surpassing any possibility in 



242 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

this art. Of course excess in anything will produce bad 
results, but that does not prove that moderation is bad. 
Dr. Bramwell says : '' Although I am willing to admit that 
it is possible that harm may be done through the misman- 
agement of hypnotic cases, I have personally seen no evi- 
dence of this either in my own practice or that of others. 
Further, I have never seen even the slightest bad effects 
follow carefully conducted hypnotic experiments." It is 
also now emphatically stated that suggestions which offend 
the moral sensibihty of a subject will be ignored. 

5. No problem is more entangled than that of the Will. 
There is a general belief that yielding to suggestion weakens 
the will. What are we to understand by such a statement ? 
Is it will in certain lines or will in general that is supposed 
to be affected ? In a measure every influence of life weakens 
the will in some lines and strengthens it in others. May 
not the same law of suggestion be used for, as well as 
against, the individual ? Is it not true that tvill may be 
strengthened hy waking suggestion, such as may be ob- 
tained from the biographies of strong men, and also by 
posthypnotic suggestion ? Endless is the confusion in regard 
to this word will. For years I have seen the statement, 
even by those who practice suggestion, that no one can he 
hypnotized against his ivill. But they certainly use will in a 
different sense from that of the general public. What we 
should say is, that no one can be hypnotized while he is 
consciously struggling not to be. A party of ten people had 
individually decided not to take a certain boat ride on a 
stormy lake. I laughed at them; said, '' Yes, you will" ; 
persuaded; and ere long six joined me. The conditions re- 
mained unchanged ; I produced no argument. Did they do 



SUGGESTION AXD MENTAL HEALING 243 

this against their will ? They gave their full consent, but 
my suggestions produced it. The wise physician is able to 
disarm his patients of a thousand objections. 

Take more marked cases. Suppose I attempt to hypno- 
tize a given individual; he says: ''I will not permit it. 
I will leave tlie room." He starts toward the door ; I cry 
out, '' "Wait a minute ; stop there ! " He stops ; I engage 
him in conversation, and ere long he is a ivilling subject. 
Was he a subject against his will ? Of course, you say, if 
he had not stopped it woukl not have occurred. But if I 
had not thundered out at him, he would not have stopped. 
It is difficult for the psychologist to arouse the public to a 
consciousness of these reciprocal relations in which we live, 
of the constant action and reaction of mental forces. Sup- 
pose one is so disarmed of his opposition, is it any more 
alarming than the daily process of changing the wills of men? 
Who is not directly or indirectly engaged in this game ? 

There are many other misconceptions about hypnotic 
suggestion which we cannot consider now. The causes of 
these phenomena we do not know. It is dangerous to 
accept the extreme statements concerning hypnotic phe- 
nomena until they are thoroughly proved. 

Our Mental Life outside the Stream of Consciousness. 
In my judgment the most important and most far-reach- 
ing discovery of modern psychology is that of the power 
of impulse, instinct, and feeling in determining human 
life and conduct. The second is the modern revelation that 
the soul is larger than consciousness. Just how this soul 
life outside the stream of consciousness is to be conceived, 
has greatly puzzled psychologists. Unconscious mindy 



244 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

subconscious mind, subjective mind or soul, split-off conscious- 
ness, secondary personality, subliminal self^ co-consciousness, 
super consciousness, and secondary consciousness represent 
some of the efforts to name it. The last, secondary con- 
sciousness, is in my judgment the best ; but even this is 
unsatisfactory. Every psychologist must confess that con- 
sciousness is but the surface layer of psychic life. The roots 
of. the soul are deep down. There are often evidences of 
marked preparation before things are thrust into conscious- 
ness. As Wundt points out, these preparations are purpo- 
sive. Can we then take refuge in pure brain activity as a 
satisfactory explanation of all that takes place outside of 
the stream of consciousness ? 

For the above statements we have abundance of proof 
from four rather distinct sources. 

1. In normal life we are discovering the impossibility of 
explaining all mental phenomena without some hypothesis 
of this kind. Who has not labored long and hard to recall 
a name or a fact, when hours after abandoning the effort, 
and at an unexpected moment, it is thrust into conscious- 
ness with a certainty that startles one ? I have had one 
vivid experience of being awakened in the night with the 
complete solution of a troublesome problem. Many others 
have recorded similar experiences. Often we are unable 
to shake off a certain phrase or song for weeks; such 
things are on our lips at the most unexpected times. I do 
not believe that we have any adequate physiological expla- 
nation. Many people possess and others develop a remark- 
able time-sense. Many awake at miscellaneously stated 
periods — not by habit, but against habit. It is difficult to 
conceive how our past learning, to say nothing of our 



SUGGESTION AND MENTAL HEALING 245 

heredity of the past, could, as we know it does, help to 
determine every decision and action of life, on any other 
assumption save that some kind of soul life exists outside 
the stream of consciousness. Thousands of daily occur- 
rences might be produced in support of this hypothesis, 
but the true generalized yie^Y is admirably presented by 
Professor Bergson. '' What are we, in fact, what is character, 
if not the condensation of the history that we have lived from 
our birth — nay, even before our birth, since we bring with 
us prenatal dispositions ? Doubtless we think with only a 
small part of our past, but it is with our entire past, including 
the original bent of our soul, that we desire, will, and act." 
The best psychological students of geniuses are convinced 
that the highest inspirational works of these gifted souls 
are largely unconscious productions; that is to say, the 
chief preparation and labor were performed outside the 
stream of consciousness, Mozart carried a notebook in 
which to record his sudden and unexpected flights of in- 
spirational music. Of course we are compelled to admit 
that this same fountain of the subconscious may produce 
both sweet and bitter water. Perhaps Mozart did not 
record the nonsense ; others have done so. 

2. The second proof of this secondary consciousness is 
found in hypnotic suggestion. The posthypnotic sugges- 
tions are the most direct and conclusive evidence we have. 
I cannot conceive how such phenomena can be explained 
in any other way. It is neither necessary to repeat cases 
given, nor to add others here ; they can be found in any 
complete treatment of suggestion. 

3. The medical world has accumulated a vast amoimt 
of material on morhid psychology. In this material is 



246 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

found evidence of some power outside the personal stream 
of consciousness. Here we find automatic actions, varying 
from trivial things to theft. Sleepwalking, or somnambu- 
lism, involves activities which certainly demand consider- 
able discrimination and which are undoubtedly purposive. 
Eecords of alternating and multiple personalities are 
many. I have no doubt that the automatic writing and 
whatever phenomena are genuine in spiritualistic mediums 
will some day be properly classified with the phenomena 
of this secondary consciotcsness, 

4. Psychoanalysis has furnished evidence of some power 
outside of consciousness. Eeference to this new line of 
development has already been made in connection with 
association of ideas in dreams. We must now view it in 
its larger aspects. Dr. Breuer of Vienna began this move- 
ment in 1880 in his practical efforts to cure hysteria; its 
elaboration belongs to Professor Freud. A hysterical patient 
is found to repeat rather automatically certain words and 
phrases. She is put into a slight hypnotic sleep and the 
words repeated over her until she makes the proper asso- 
ciations. In short, she finally connects this with her past 
experience and is cured. '' Hysterical patients," says Freud, 
" suffer from reminiscences. They are memory symbols of 
forgotten events. These events may date back to child- 
hood. There seems to be a mental condition tending to 
force the unpleasant and painful impressions and ideas 
down into the unconscious and to keep them there. This 
resistance must be met and overcome in psychoanalysis, 
and on this resistance is based the theory of the psychic 
processes of hystericals. The results seem to have justified 
such a hypothesis. In every case the condition of this 



SUGGESTION AND MENTAL HEALING 247 

repression proved that a wish had been aroused, which 
was in sharp opposition to the other desires of the indi- 
vidual, and was not capable of being reconciled with the 
ethical, aesthetic, and personal pretensions of the patient's 
personality." The impression may, even years afterwards, 
appear as a symbolic memory. Hypnosis conceals these 
resistances and repressions. Now that hypnosis is no 
longer used or deemed necessary, the advocates of psycho- 
analysis claim that the resistances and repressions are 
quite evident. 

According to this school the supreme law that reigns in 
the unconscious world is the law of pleasure-pain — seek 
pleasure and avoid pam. Lender dream associations this 
idea has already been considered. Freud says, " Dreams 
are the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious in 
the soul." They are the fulfillment of suppressed wishes. 
Professor Jung's careful work on reaction time in associa- 
tion of ideas also gives proof of this power house in the 
unconscious part of soul life. 

Hidden Powers of Men. " I teach you beyond-man. 
Man is something that shall be surpassed. What have ye 
done to surpass him ? What is great in man is that he is 
a bridge and not a goal. All beings hitherto have created 
something beyond themselves ; and are ye going to be the 
ebb of this great tide and rather revert to the animal than 
surpass man ? " Who does not feel the psychological power 
of such suggestions ? Who feels that he is living up to the 
Limits of his possibilities ? Is it not often true that when we 
think we have reached the limit of endurance, some psychic 
stimulus carries us far beyond what we deemed possible ? 



248 ELEMENTAPvY PSYCHOLOGY 

This psychological truth is demonstrated in ordinary 
toil, in contests calling for exceptional endurance or activ- 
ity, in meeting emergencies, in forced army marches, in the 
tenacity of life where hope seems impossible, in increased 
power by hypnotic suggestion, in mental healing, in the 
supreme efforts of genius. All people have some knowl- 
edge of what is called second breath. The already ex- 
hausted mother does the incredible in caring for her sick 
children, and appears to suffer no ill from it. At the 
supreme moment the athlete surprises himself and others 
by creating the heyond-athlete. Henceforth what was seem- 
ingly impossible is now easy. In learning telegraphy the 
individual reaches a standstill at about seventy words per 
minute for receiving. Here he generally stays until some 
emergency lifts him out of it; then he may go on im- 
proving. We all protest against stress and strain ; yet 
in it is often concealed the secret of our own power and 
success. Many an individual will produce a better story, 
essay, etc., under severe stress and limit of time than 
he could with abundance of leisure. The brain processes 
become warmed up, so to speak, and related processes 
shoot together that seemed unable to do so on ordinary 
occasions. 

Conditions that call for long physical endurance and loss 
of sleep are often met to an extent that normal conditions 
would indicate as impossible. Such severe strains are not 
always accompanied by the corresponding reaction we 
would expect. Neurologists admit that the difference in 
tenacity of life is still a mystery. The strenuous life of 
which all seem to complain may be at least one way to 
unlock the hidden energy of man and advance the race. 



SUGGESTIOIST AND MENTAL HEALING 2^9 

If we did not spend so much energy in complaining, we 
would have more left with which to face life and do our part. 
In short, I believe man, as well as the cosmic universe, 
has undiscovered powers. '' / teach you heyond-manr 

Mental Healing. Healing by mental suggestion is as old 
as the race. It has been manifested in a vast variety of 
ways, but never in such multiplicity as at the present 
time. There are in this city more than a dozen distinct 
forms of healing in which suggestion plays the primary 
part. One of the greatest problems confronting science is 
the exploration of this old but lately discovered power, the 
discovery of its resources and combinations, its extensions 
and limitations, its values and dangers. Let no one, either 
for or against, be so deluded as to think these problems are 
solved. It is not a subject that can be approached Avith 
prejudice and narrow-mindedness. 

'' Things erroneous have an element of truth in them." 
Behind the apparently insane performances of the medicine 
men among savages lie the suggestions and the subjective 
effects of faith produced in the minds of the patients. The 
same principle takes on other forms as applied by the 
ancient priests, and in connection with magic. So we might 
trace the principle through its various manifestations. The 
use of patent medicines, usually known by their unlikeness 
to drugs, could not be so enormous if some beneficial results 
were not obtained. You may say the effects are only the 
relief from imaginary difficulties. All I will say here is 
that diseases of body and mind have become wonderfully 
mixed, and it is for future science to untangle them. 
Perhaps it is as G. Stanley Hall says about blood and 



250 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

intelligence : '' God hath joined them in an insolvable 
mystery." But one of the fundamental problems of mental 
healing is this, Does not a diseased mind need medicine 
of some kind ? 

In New York there are letter brokers having millions of 
letters to rent. The letters come from adolescent boys and 
girls all over the American continent. They are the 
product of a mental and physical state produced by the 
suggestions of quack literature. Such suggestions strike 
the adolescent during the physical readjustment, when the 
soul is in a period of stress and turmoil. These letters are 
collected and kept for rent to the fake cure-alls. The 
fakers then know what psychological suggestions to make 
to wring the money from these suffering adolescents. By 
proper instruction, proper relations between parents and 
teachers, two thirds of all this could be avoided. 

Without going into the extreme views on mental heal- 
ing, let us formulate a few general facts. 

1. There is no pain outside of consciousness. As self- 
evident and simple as this fact is, many consider it only 
nonsense. Wlienever one considers a plant or animal un- 
conscious, he does not think of its feeling pain, no matter 
what happens to it ; to attribute the sensation of pain to it 
is to declare it conscious at that moment, if at no other. 

2. The field of consciousness may be so directed as to 
prevent some sensations of pain, and in other cases to give 
direct origin to them or to intensify others. 

3. To what extent pain may be excluded from conscious- 
ness by mental conditions we do not now know. Certainly 
in some individuals, under some conditions, it is possible 
to a greater extent than in others under other conditions. 



SUGGESTIOX AND MEXTAL HEALIXG 251 

4. The field of consciousness may be so directed as to 
increase or diminish any pain, no matter what its origin. 
Every physician knows this principle and has regard for it, 
whether he is dealing with a nervous headache or perform- 
ing a surgical operation. Such results are accomplished 
either through autosuggestion, or through the suggestion 
of others by word, gesture, look, or attitude. It may be 
voluntary and conscious or involuntary and unconscious. 
Tlie extent to luliich this may he carried we do not knoiu. 

5. Certain states of mind may, either directly or in- 
directly, produce serious disturbances of bodily functions ; 
hut to icliat extent only future science can determine. On 
this point the cases of proof number many thousands. 
The many disturbances accompanying hysteria are the 
most noted. There are thousands of people who have 
headache the minute they enter a closed room or see a 
heater. Others are often sick from odors which no normal 
individual notices, or even from the suggestion of the 
presence of such odors. Du Bois gives cases of hysterical 
fever that lasts for months. Mental dyspepsia may con- 
tinue for years. Much of fatigue is only mental. There 
is almost no end to the list that might be given. 

6. The persistence of such .functional disturbances may 
finally be the indirect cause of organic disorders. 

7. Whatsoever functional disturbances mind produces, 
mind may heal. 

8. A despondent, melancholy condition of mind, by 
aflFecting appetite, sleep, and activity, may prevent re- 
covery, even in such an organic disorder as tuberculosis. 
The removal of such conditions may be the indirect cause 
of recovery. 



252 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

9. The fact that disordered functions may be set right 
by drugs is no proof that mind may not do the same. 

10. The relation between organic and functional dis- 
orders is exceedingly close. * 

11. All forms of mental healing operate under the law 
of suggestion and autosuggestion. 

12. The world in which we live is one of exceedingly 
complex phenomena, and it is probable that no one remedy 
will ever answer or meet all the conditions. 

13. The most essential condition conducive to a dis- 
order originating in our mental disposition is to believe 
that it is due not to our attitude of mind, but to real 
physical causes. To surmise that the cause may be in our 
own tliinking is generally to begin the cure. This psycho- 
logical paradox explains the readiness with which we pro- 
claim the ills of others only imaginary and see in them 
a twist of mind, yet our ills are genuine. Observe the 
difficulty in convincing the purely nervous individual that 
the causes of his worry, fatigue, and sleeplessness do not 
lie in outside conditions but in himself. 

Dr. Prince gives a simple explanation of the relation of 
some mental and physical disorders. He assumes that 
some groups of physical and psychical phenomena occurring 
together are so treasured and associated in the brain cells 
that whatever arouses one also awakens the other. Such a 
group he calls a complexiis. Into the details of its appli- 
cation we cannot enter. We see at once that it explains 
only the reinstating of a disorder, after its origin in a 
physical cause ; but it does not explain the power which 
an idea or emotion may have to originate such a physi- 
cal condition for the first time. 



SUGGESTION AInTD MENTAL HEALING 253 

The importance of health will make this subject one 
of perennial interest. Not only physical but moral health 
is involved. If we create the idea of a poor, weak, sinful, 
helpless humanity, how far does such an idea tend to pro- 
duce just what we dread most ? Davidson thinks it was 
this negative self-feeling that paralyzed the Middle Ages. 

Normal and Abnormal Psychology. It is desirable to 
say a few words concerning the relation of these two 
branches of psychology. Interest in abnormal psychology 
w^as once supposed to belong only to the physician. Now 
we cannot hope to interpret our lives without some knowl- 
edge of animal psychology,* child psychology, psychology 
of the uncivilized, social psychology, and abnormal psy- 
chology. Abnormal psychology treats of the unusual phases 
of mental life, such as automatic writing, trances, halluci- 
nations, number forms, hypnotism, sexual perversions, 
dreams, ecstasy, the '' sin-sick soul," fixed ideas, and the 
various forms of insanity. There are also marked disorders 
of all the mental powers, such as the disorders of memory, 
imagination, voKtion, feeling. Every one of these phenom- 
ena is in some degree represented in what we call normal 
life. Thousands of abnormal experiences the so-called 
normal individual conceals from others and from the 
physician. There is no fixed line between sanity and in- 
sanity, between hallucinations and powerful mental images, 
between illusions and faulty observations, between enthusi- 
asm and ecstasy, between seriousness and melancholy, 
between consciousness of wrong and the '' sin-sick soul." 
TJiey are all a question of intensity and complexity. What- 
ever line we fix is for convenience and is perfectly arbitrary. 



254 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

The disorders of perception are manifested chiefly in the 
form of illusions and hallucinations. The interpretations 
of external stimuli may vary from the simplest inaccuracy 
to the wildest conceivable distortions. Illusions have some 
recognizable external stimuli; hallucinations have none. 
This distinction is not always clear ; there are often mix- 
tures of internal and external stimuli. The religious enthu- 
siast who sees angel faces in the floating clouds, and the 
one who sees the Commandments written in the sky, are 
not widely separated. Such disorders of illusion and 
hallucination belong chiefly to the perceptions of sight 
and hearing. The degree of these disorders corresponds to 
the powerful and convincing influence which they have on 
the entire mental attitude of the individual. This arises 
from his morbid inner life which he sees not; hence he 
believes all the more in their objective vividness. 

The disorders of memory are many. We now have sev- 
eral treatises on the '' Diseases of Memory." The first 
condition of a good memory is impressibility. When dis- 
turbances of this function exist, stimuli that act quickly 
are likely to leave no trace of their existence, and others 
are inadequately apprehended. These disorders exist often 
temporarily as a result of fatigue or illness ; they are 
marked in dementia and in epileptic insanity. Accuracy of 
memory is only relative, but in morbid cases the past is 
always falsified. Hallucinations concerning the past seem 
the most real of all mental experiences. 

Paramnesia is a term applied to a mixture of invention 
and reality. Some weeks ago a seventeen-year-old boy, 
then in one of our high schools, apparently lost all power 
of orientation. He started to visit a neighbor, and became 



SUGGESTIO:^^ AND ME:N^TAL HEALIKG 255 

unconscious of his personal identity, relations and location. 
Since then he has rambled in different towns, perfectly 
sane in every other way. 

Paralysis of thought occurs in a mild degree as a result 
of extreme fatigue or of poisonous narcotics. It is one of 
the symptoms of mental deterioration and senile dementia. 
Often there is quite a noticeable retardation of thought, 
even where there is no lack of mental ability. 

Compelling ideas are those that seem to force their way 
into consciousness so as to produce a feeling of subjuga- 
tion to some outside force. The fear of their return is 
often sufficient to enthrone them in consciousness. They 
usually accompany some emotional disorder, such as 
melancholia. The simple impulse to count or to ask one's 
self all sorts of questions is of a similar nature. When 
these compelling ideas remain for some time to harrow the 
life of the individual they are called Jixed ideas. Most 
normal persons have periods when this disorder manifests 
itself in some form. 

Delusions are false beliefs which do not yield to argument 
or experience. 

Volumes might be written on morbid emotions. The 
secret experiences of most individuals will furnish mate- 
rial out of which they may form conceptions of morbid 
emotions. Fear is the commonest of emotional disorders, 
and accompanies nearly all mental disturbances. Its effect 
on the whole physical and mental organization is serious. 
Compelling ideas often take the form of some foreboding 
or fear. In melancholy religions, in spite of protest, fear 
in some form or other lurks at the bottom of emotional 
manifestations. 



256 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

In some of these abnormal states all sensitiveness to 
physical pain is lost. In extreme cases the individual may 
cut out his own tongue, destroy his eyes, etc., and remain 
insensible to pain. 

A careful study of the abnormalities of the will, of per- 
verted sensations and perceptions, of material similar to 
that developed later under Magic and Spiritualism, or of 
any general abnormal psychology, will give the reader an 
idea of the relation between normal and abnormal psy- 
chology, and convince him that every normal manifesta- 
tion of mind may gradually develop some quality of 
abnormality. Of course there are many apparently sudden 
transitions, but every analysis of such cases demonstrates 
that the suddenness is more apparent than real, and 
reveals that the two mental worlds are near together. 



CHAPTEE XIII 
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 

Importance of Social Psychology. "A table of values 
hangetli over each people. Behold, it is the table of its 
resignations. If thou once recognizest a people's need and 
land and sky and neighbor, thou mightest easily find out 
the law of its resignations, and why it climbeth on this 
ladder unto its hope." 

This and thousands of similar literary utterances from 
writers of the past fifty years are unformulated, if not un- 
conscious, social psychology. Each individual loves to feel 
his self-sufficiency, his importance, and his independence 
of physical conditions and of the people among whom he 
lives. Most men are in the game of influencing others. 
Each feels his self-importance in proportion as his influ- 
ence appears large, but he is usually blind to the constant 
influences exerted upon him ; he sees not how little in him 
is really original and creative. He is largely unconscious 
of the fact that his very effort to influence others is mainly 
due to the conditions in which he lives. A man follows 
the beaten paths of social, religious, and political activity, 
feeling that he does so because it is reasonable. Through 
conscious and unconscious imitation, through intercourse 
with people and attention to their doings, we acquire most 
of our habits, our conventionalities, our methods of doing 
things, our bent of mind, and our general line of action. 

257 



258 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Prisoners we are, whether we know it or not. The greatest 
moment in the development of individuality is the moment 
when an individual realizes how great an echo he is. 
The influence exerted upon us by others is not in itself 
an evil ; the evil lies in that contented ignorance of these 
forces which has led to an entirely erroneous interpreta- 
tion and valuation of social phenomena. 

Social psychology is so important for all future study of 
sociology, history, ethics, and literature that its complete 
omission from a beginner's book would be a mistake. We 
need not hesitate to assert that its study is essential to the 
present and future welfare of humanity. Scientific progress 
consists in the discovery and application of forces hitherto 
unknown. I venture the assertion that a comprehension 
and application of these forces will advance the interpre- 
tation of human life, human history, and social activity by 
a hundred per cent. Le Bon says : " It seems that behind 
the visible facts are hidden at times thousands of invisible 
causes. Visible social phenomena appear to be the result 
of an immense unconscious working, that, as a rule, is 
beyond the reach of our analysis." These unconscious 
influences to which we are subjected by reason of our 
presence among men, act as forces still unknown. Ere 
long a knowledge of these forces will constitute the essen- 
tial common foundation for ethics, sociology, history, and 
political science. 

What is meant by Social-Mind ? Spencer early called 
attention to the fact that the coming together of individuals 
is accompanied by certain psychological manifestations 
which never appear so long as individuals remain separate. 



SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 259 

This he called superorganic evolution. It is now clearly 
manifest that these forces thus put into operation are not 
simply the addition of phenomena already active in each 
separate individual. An analogy from the chemical world 
will make the idea clear. Ozone is a chemical compound 
whose chief manifestation is a peculiar odor, but this mani- 
festation has no existence save when three atoms of oxygen 
combine. To say that ozone exists in each separate atom 
is mysticism. Atoms contain merely the potentiality for 
such a phenomenon, and it is brought into existence only 
by their combining in a given way. In like manner certain 
psychic manifestations and powers come into existence 
among men by virtue of their association. Heretofore these 
manifestations have usually been attributed to indi\T.dual 
will and deliberation. Now social psychology reveals the 
presence of many forces which at least play a part in di- 
recting even such ivills and deliberations. It is the combina- 
tion of these forces, which seems to be superimposed on the 
individual mind with certain intensified forms of individual 
active qualities, that constitutes what we call social-mind. 
Collective-mind is a better name because more significant. 

Does collective-mind then contain any forces or elements 
not found in the separate individuals ? Nothing more than 
the jjossibilities luhich their natures furnish should they come 
together under given conditions. But possibilities and 
potentialities are not actualities, — not the real things. 
Social psychology treats of those apparently impersonal 
forces, manifestations, and phenomena that result from 
certain combinations and relations of individuals, and that 
appear not to have any existence under other conditions. 
Without doubt the conscious or dimly conscious feeling 



260 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

that others are in a similar state of mind definitely modifies 
the individual tendencies, and often causes many potenti- 
alities to become actualities that would otherwise never 
have such an existence. This power of sensing what is 
going on in other peoples' minds — what they are thinking, 
feeling, and intending to do — is directly or indirectly the 
occupation of every one within given circles. It is the 
backbone of public opinion. 

The Suggestibility and Credulity of Crowds. All writers 
are agreed that suggestibility and credulity are more char- 
acteristic of the crowd than of the individual, and that 
they are increased through the appeal to prestige and to 
strong emotions, through positive assertion^ repetition, and 
contagion. The mob mind gives way to suggestion and is 
credulous to an extent that baffles the normal imagination. 
The more sources from which suggestions come and the 
longer they continue the more powerful they are. 

As late as 1666 a Jew proclaimed himself the long- 
expected Messiah. The Jews were thrown into an excited 
condition surpassing description. The contagion spread ; 
intelligent, doubting rabbis fled for their lives ; all traffic 
in many Jewish centers ceased. In time even the con- 
servative began to yield to the suggestion. 

In 1857 a missionary called a prayer meeting for the 
benefit of depressed business men of New York. The sug- 
gestion spread like wildfire ; even the firemen and police- 
men held their meetings. The writer of " Economic 
Crises " in describing it says : " It is doubtful whether 
under heaven was seen such a sight as went on in the 
city of New York in the winter and spring of 1857-1858." 



SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 261 

Le Bon says, '^ The improbable does not exist for a 
crowd." Tliis enables us to understand the creation and 
propagation of the most improbable legends and stories. 
Some Crusader made the suggestion of the appearance of 
the long-dead St. George on the walls of Jerusalem, and 
by contagion the miracle was soon accepted by all. The 
greatest wonder concerning the noninitiated witnesses of 
magic and trickery is not so much the marvelousness of 
the performances as the credulity and loeakness of the re- 
port made hy the croivd of witnesses. Dr. Hensoldt, after 
observing several '' magic-tree " performances and the 
'' unsupported rope " that seemed to extend to the sky, 
said that the Hindu has so perfected the '' art of sugges- 
tion that, while under its influence, our senses are no 
longer a criterion of the reality around us, but can be made 
to deceive us in a manner that is perfectly amazing." 

This collective suggestibility certainly finds its way into 
the pages of history, hence some knowledge of social 
psychology is indispensable to a study of the past. Have 
we the truth about any of the great characters of earth ? 
I do not believe it is possible to obtain the whole truth, 
neither does it matter. Ideal heroes are more valuable than 
real ones. If efficiency be the standard of values, then 
ideals are the greatest treasures ever produced by human 
minds. '' The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 
Three different periods have produced three different inter- 
pretations of Napoleon. Within less than a decade a great 
national hero of our own nation is assailed by a few words 
and formulas, such as '' usurper," '' king," '' new national- 
ism," suitable to provoke images of the most formidable 
kind. Not by evidence and knowledge, but by repeated, 



262 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

broad-sided suggestion, thousands are converted from 
friends to enemies. In like manner thousands are inoculated 
with socialism by the fascinating images oi plenty^ ease^ and 
contentment, with which the doctrine fills the imagination. 
Le Bon says : '' The events with regard to which there 
exists the most doubt are certainly those that have been 
observed (simultaneously) by the greatest number of per- 
sons." Thousands were present at the battle of Sedan, 
yet it is impossible to decide who was in command. Lord 
Wolseley has proved that the most important incidents of 
the battle of Waterloo have been erroneously reported by 
hundreds of witnesses. 

The Successful Leader of Crowds. In some measure, 
at least, we must admit that the successful leader, like the 
poet, is born, not made. He intuitively applies the forces 
of social psychology. He must appear superior and bound- 
less in his resources. He therefore appears to be inscrutable. 
Silence, save on necessary occasions, adds to this inscruta- 
bility. On proper occasions he appeals to prestige as if it 
were the law of God. He does not reason; he suggests, 
affirms, then commands. He fires the imagination by ex- 
citing the proper images at the proper moment. Leaders 
must rise above contempt and persecution. I have wit- 
nessed several mobs, and in every case the leaders were 
cool, silent, and defied prosecution and responsibility. This 
acts like magic upon a crowd. 

The School is the Only Hope for Political Education. 

The psychologist who knows how easily all kinds of educa- 
tional, religious, social, and political fads are propagated by 



SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 263 

suggestion and contagion naturally loses faith in the edu- 
cational value of political campaigns, where every possible 
effort is made to utilize the suggestibility and credulity of 
the crowd. The quiet research of the classroom and the 
reading of solid books and magazines must accomplish 
this education, and social psychology must be its founda- 
tion. This country is passing through a period of the 
wildest legislative experimentation ever known in any 
land. I have faith in the people, even in the uneducated, 
where their common sense can be appealed to singly. To 
despair of the people is to wish the world annihilated. But 
I have little faith in the croivd dominated by the sugges- 
tion of and the thirst for victory, a thousand times stronger 
than by the desire for truth. 

All writers are agreed that in proportion as the social- 
mind is operative, individual intelligence recedes to a lower 
and lower ebb. Under such conditions, when charges are 
made against a person's character or liis management of 
public affairs, thousands, as individual thinkers, may be 
convinced of their falsity, yet in public they assume the 
truth of such statements and act upon the same without 
question. With our telephone, telegraph, and a flood of 
periodicals and newspapers to annihilate space and time, 
and, in a measure, to make the assembling of the crowd 
unnecessary for the spreading of suggestion and for its 
contagion, have we any hope save in that education that 
seeks truth rather than victory ? The popular mind dreads 
the realities of life. The populace loves to believe in some 
Utopian remedy for all ills, both real and imaginary. 
This is the secret of the spread of educational and politi- 
cal fads ; yes, of such things as the " South Sea Bubble." 



264 ELEMENTAKY PSYCHOLOGY 

Had we some of Plato's wise and good leaders who were 
able to discover in advance the better way, and who had 
power to mold the crowd accordingly, we might have 
more hope ; but, as it is, it seems that most of our leaders 
accept what the crowd demands, not because they believe 
it best, but because it is the road to victory. Under our 
democratic government I see no way for future prog- 
ress save a broad, sound, and thorough education in our 
public schools. 

A Few General Conclusions. 1. Social forces are the 
result not primarily of collective intelligence, but of the 
power of unconscious suggestion and of underlying im- 
pulses. Half a century ago such a question as, '' Can the 
human race consciously aid its own progress ? " would 
have received about the same attention as the ludicrous 
questions of the circus clown. Now it commands the 
attention of all thoughtful students of society and has 
even received a negative answer from several eminent 
scholars. We now know that the future is not planned 
and then logically and systematically carried out ; it 
grows out of conditions. The careful student will dis- 
cover that even such planning as exists has its deep under- 
lying causes, and that reason is chiefly occupied in seeking 
ways and means to ends projected by deeper forces. 

2. Habit and custom are deeper and more powerful 
than law and convention, and feeling and instinct are 
still deeper than and behind custom and habit. Intelli- 
gence is chiefly occupied in reflecting on what these forces 
produce and in discovering ways and means. In some 
measure custom and tradition have made fools of us all. 



SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 265 

3. All social phenomena are subject to the general law 
of causation. The discovery of these causes has just begun. 

4. We are seldom conscious of the power of the long 
past echoing in us as individuals ; hence our shock when 
we observe it in others, especially in whole nations, as in 
China. Then we say : '' Those abominable Chinamen ! If 
they would only do things our way — the right way." 
Custom is social or objective heredity — the conditions 
into which one is born. It is all the more powerful 
because it is not felt as an outside force. Under the force 
of conventionality one feels all the while that he is con- 
forming simply because others do, but he is surprised that 
any one should question custom. He thinks he conforms 
to that simply because it is all right, but in reality it is 
because the force operates unconsciously. For example, I 
have never yet been able to realize either the artistic 
beauty or the comfort of a dress suit ; yet as a matter of 
conventionality I wear one occasionally. This I do because 
others do, but it is laonrational imitation and we may argue 
about its advisability. However, suppose that I set up the 
claim that the general style of dress for men and women 
should be exactly the reverse of what it is, what chance 
have I of inducing any one even to argue the question ? 
Millions would simply cry aloud that it is all right the 
way it is. In the main, fashions exist not because they 
are in reality the most useful, beneficial, and artistic, but 
because we have come to think them so. This the claims 
of different nations and of different ages demonstrate ; yet, 
with most people under the sway of such customs, the 
usefulness and artistic beauty of these customs dare not 
be questioned. 



266 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

5. The characteristics of the group and of the indi- 
vidual are often opposed to each other. The social-mind 
tends to be stable, constant, conservative, coioputable. The 
individual is variable, irregular, original, and inventive. 

6. Society gradually develops a certain fund of senti- 
ment along various lines that becomes practically irresist- 
ible. This force is manifested in the form of the will of 
the people. Tolstoi, near the close of " War and Peace," 
asks, " What is the force that moves nations ? " He says 
that men foolishly teach that Napoleon commanded six 
hundred thousand men to march into Eussia — and they 
marched. Alas, they could not have marched unless six 
hundred thousand commands had been previously given. 
He then says : '' If the source of power lies not in the 
physical and not in the moral characteristics of the leader, 
it is evident that the source of power must be found out- 
side the person — in those relations in which the person 
possessing the power stands to the masses." 

7. Kidd and Schopenhauer are essentially correct in 
maintaining that, while reason beguiles us into believing 
that our time and individual interest are all-important, 
yet the forces that are working out our development are 
primarily concerned with those widely different interests 
and conditions possessed of an indefinitely longer life. Has 
not evolution progressed from the lowest forms of life up 
to man ? Certainly we cannot believe that all further prog- 
ress was then turned over to the caprice of human reason. 

8. Finally, laws, languages, constitutions, and religions 
were never made by conscious effort; they simply grew 
out of the conditions. Intelligence formulated and directed 
them to the accomplishment of their ends. 



CHAPTEE XIV 

WILL, FREEDOM, A^B EDUCATION 

In the scientific study of psychology we are compelled 
to use words, descriptive of human life, in a somewhat 
different sense from their everyday use. In no other 
science are we so embarrassed in this particular. As a rule, 
in physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc., the reader does not 
insist on putting his own meaning into the terms used, 
but seeks the scientific meaning of the writer. In psychol- 
ogy we not only contend with the loose meanings of daily 
speech, but also with religion, theology, and philosophy, 
which are daily proclaiming their transcendental meanings 
of these terms. In common speech, and often in theology, 
will and freedom oy free will are assumed to mean the same 
thing ; but biologically and psychologically we must never 
think of them as identical. Will is simple/ the resultant of 
all the forces operative in an organism at any one time. 
Free will involves the conception of a separate and distinct 
power of mind which may compel action independent of 
all internal and external influences. Some writers, such 
as James, and more recently Miller, appear to limit Will 
to the relation of the mind to its ideas and feelings. To 
define will as "merely the control of action by ideas," 
omits all the extensive biological use of the word by which 
the very deepest springs of action are designated. It would 

267 



268 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

seem more fitting to define volition as " merely the control 
of action by feelings and ideas." Volition is but one 
form of will. 

Biological and Evolutionary Investigations. What fol- 
lows will be based upon five principles which we deem 
well established by modern science. They are : 1. Biolog- 
ical and evolutionary investigations reveal the will as the 
primary and dynamic element in psychical life. Intelh- 
gence is a growth, a secondary development. 

2. The development of the will may be characterized 
by three stages — impulse or instinct^ desire^ and will (in the 
narrower sense), 

3. Desire or impulse, with conscious striving, presup- 
poses some intellectual development and soon forms a 
union with will and idea, which cooperate as a single force. 

4. Will^ in the narrower sense, or volitional, rational 
will, is desire strong enough to have a feeling of warmth 
or realness, and is directed by purposes, principles, and 
ideals. Its highest form is present in rational, self-conscious 
thought. We become keenly conscious of it in the pursuit of 
the practical ideals of life. Pleasurable feelings accompany 
conduct that conforms to these ideals, while conduct not 
in harmony with them produces a feeling of dissatisfaction. 

5. The rational will constantly subjects the lower mil, 
impulses, and desires to criticism and selection, in con- 
formity to its ends. Herein arises conscience. 

Kinds and Sources of Human Action. Investigations 
will show that our actions may be resolved into automatic, 
reflex, instinctive, impulsive, habitual, and voluntary. But 



WILL, FEEEDOM, AXD EDUCATION 269 

in what order ? To adequately comprehend this subject it 
is necessary to bear in mind many of the facts and con- 
clusions reached m our consideration of such subjects 
as the will to live^ various instincts^ imitation, habit, feeling 
and emotion, apperception, power of suggestion, and mental 
activity not in consciousness. These are the inexhaustible 
fountains which largely regulate all voluntary action. There 
is no such thing as loill, separate and apqrtfrom the other 
poivers of mind, 

1. Automatic action is found in respiration, circulation of 
the blood, digestion, and the nutritive processes of the cells. 
These are fundamental, and nothing is more evident than 
the fact that the degree of will displayed by any man is, in 
a measure, dependent upon these functions. The renewed 
feeling of strength which comes to the dissipated individual 
who has resisted temptation for a few days is due more to 
a restoration of these processes to their normal functioning 
than to the psychic consciousness of having resisted. 

2. You have not forgotten the discussion of the many 
possible responses of the nervous system to sensory stimuU, 
known as reflex action, and the close relation of such action 
to habit. They are not directed by consciousness, but are 
determined by nervous adjustments and the readiness of 
the nervous discharge. This readiness of nervous discharge 
is linked with instinct and inherited predisposition. Many 
of the readv reflexes are but manifestations of the instinct 
of self-preservation. Consciousness may accompany some of 
the complex reflex activities without being in any way 
the cause. We may know that a gun is to be fired, that 
a thunderclap is coming, and be conscious of our move- 
ments, yet consciousness is not the cause, but only the 



270 ELEMEISTTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

spectator. Many higher actions of life seem to be of the 
same nature. Such are well exemplified in compelling 
ideas and in hypnotic phenomena. Should we give as 
free an interpretation and application to reflex action as 
some writers do, we would extend it to every form of 
human activity, but in all events, its essence is the same. 
Under reflex action, James gives the case of a retired army 
officer into whose ears mischief-making boys were accus- 
tomed to cry " Attention," in order to see him drop all his 
groceries into the gutter. Signing one's name may be a 
highly voluntary act or it may be simply a secondary reflex. 
Keflex action in its connection with instinct and habit is 
one link in the mighty chain that leads up to the most 
complicated acts of human life. 

3. The instincts fix the general line of conduct for all 
living organisms. Instinctive acts have their gradations. 
At first they may be unconscious ; later, they may be ac- 
companied by consciousness before consciousness begins to 
modify the activity ; still later, instincts operate under the 
guidance of reason and experience. Instinctive action may 
be modified in a thousand ways; nevertheless, generally and 
comparatively speaking, the channel of any given instinct 
is narrow. We proclaim our moral and intellectual maxim 
of '' love your enemies," while instinct says '' kill them off." 
Volumes might be written on the failure of the idealistic 
to overcome the instincts developed during the long past. 
Utopian forms of government live in the imagination only, 
while their promoters are laughed to scorn. Observe how 
William James's reasonable and practical proposed substi- 
tute for war was treated largely as a joke. We answer 
that all tliese things are ttnreasonahle, but that is simply 



WILL, FEEEDOM, AXD EDUCATION 271 



another way of saying that they are not in Kne with our 
deepest instincts. The man who declares it only reasonable 
that the millionaire should divide his goods, is no more in- 
clined to divide liis possessions than the millionaire, except 
on the assumption that he would get more than he now 
has ; and should he become a millionaire, he would declare 
it wicked to be forced to such a division. However, the 
idealistic fails only by ignoring instinct and getting too 
far away from practical life. The chief modifications of the 
instincts in man have heen jyroduced hy ideal adjustvients. 

In Chapter III we dwelt extensively on the power of 
feeling and emotion as one of the springs of life. These are 
but the outcome of the instinctive tendencies in their end- 
less combinations and conflicts. In man the instincts use 
the imagination and ideahstic faculty to mhibit or inten- 
sify these feelings. 

4. Impulsive action need not detain us long, since all 
instincts are impulses. But not all impulses can be prop- 
erly classed as instincts. Impulse is irregular, more indi- 
vidual than instinct, appears and disappears unexpectedly, 
is felt in consciousness, and obeyed without any conscious 
reason. In everyday hfe we witness examples of these im- 
pulses, such as the sudden desire to cry aloud, to run 
away, to jump off high places, to bite the nails, to do the 
nonsensical and unusual, to kill, to commit suicide. AMien 
we consider the abnormal and the criminal we must always 
look for deep impulses. Impulses, however, are not want- 
ing in so-called normal life. Suggestion and autosugges- 
tion, operating behind the screen of consciousness in what 
we call the subconscious, are powerful agents in produc- 
ing impulsive action. This may be confirmed from a 



272 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

multitude of sources, as seen in suggestive therapeutics. 
But the posthypnotic phenomena already described on 
page 225 are all that is necessary. Later we shall see how 
this contributes to the feeling of freedom. 

5. Hahitual action permeates the entire physical and 
mental activity. What is strictly voluntary does not re- 
main so long, but is soon brought under the compelling 
power of habit. We will avoid repetition by asking the 
reader to call to mind Chapter II, in wliich Habit is termed 
one of the fountains of human life. 

6. Voluntary action is the goal to which all these lines 
have been tending. It involves some prevision of what 
is likely to happen. Hence, as James says, '' Voluntary 
movements must he secondary, not primary, functions of 
our organism.^^ They have their roots in the activities 
we have just considered. At first the consciousness accom- 
panying instinctive, reflex, and impulsive action seems 
only to be an observer. The same is true of well-established 
habitual action. James gives a good illustration of in- 
stinctive and reflex activity. He says : " The other day I 
was standing at a railroad station with a little child, 
when an express train went thundering by. The child, 
who was near the edge of the platform, started, winked, had 
his breathing convulsed, turned pale, burst out crying, 
and ran frantically toward me and hid his face. I have 
no doubt that this youngster was almost as much aston- 
ished by his own behavior as he was by the train." How- 
ever, consciousness in the process of relating feelings 
and ideas gradually comes to be one of the factors in 
producing and preventing action. This power is known 
as volitional control. 



WILL, FREEDOM, AND EDUCATI0:N' 273 

In Miss Calkins's chapter on the Nature of Will, I find 
a careful analysis of volitional control. However, I cannot 
agree to limit will to volitional control, which is here 
described as a personal attitude with '' anticipatory con- 
sciousness" which is composed of three elements: (1) the 
consciousness of realness ; (2) the idea of the future ; (3) the 
feeling that the end depends upon me. 

For example, I desire a million dollars. You say, '' Why 
do you not make an effort to get it ? " My answer is a 
shght ironical smile. This means that the desire has not 
the '' feeling of realness " about it to set me in motion. 
The desire lacks the realistic, vitalizing power of the 
imagination that so dominates ns in early life. 

Volition appears to direct Thoughts and Feelings as well 
as to inaugurate Action. While the immediate effect of 
every thought, feeling, and impulse is to manifest itself in 
action, and although " thought may be only repressed 
action," yet the inner side of the consciousness of directing 
thoughts and feelings is what most people call their wHl. 
Let us accept the element of truth there is in it and try to 
bring it more distiactly to our attention. I am now think- 
ing about my psychology, but suddenly I remember that I 
am to deliver a lecture on literature. I change my liue of 
thought without any visible physical action, but I over- 
look the fact that it is the feeling of realness of future 
action that prompts the modification. The object is without 
and the movement remote, not resident. 

But now I am tired and sleepy. The anticipatory feeling 
of rest and sleep sets me in motion at once. I close my 
book, turn out my light, walk upstairs, and undress — not 



274 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

as separate volitional acts but rather as habitual and 
secondary reflex actions. The idea alone is sufficient to 
produce this long list of activities, while I am primarily 
conscious only of the idea. Snch a process is due to the 
power of an idea to ittilize the past experiences of the in- 
dividual without thrusting them distinctly into conscious- 
ness, and so to set in motion any or all of the forms of action 
we have been considering. This is what writers call ideo- 
motor action. It is no exception and no paradox, as once 
supposed, but it is the very essence of volitional control. 
It is choice loithout effort. Here there are no conflicting 
ideas ; but if there be any conflict at some point, it is dropped 
out of consciousness and some idea reigns supreme. This 
principle finds its extreme manifestation in hypnotic phe- 
nomena and in fixed ideas. But daily life is filled with 
common examples. On seeing a bird my boy hurls a stone 
at it. I see an orange on the table and before I know it I 
am playing with it. I think of a name and immediately I 
am writing it. A call to dinner usually produces obedience 
without a struggle. Choice loith effort and through delibera- 
tion is not the rule, hut rather the exception, in what we 
call volitional control. That many ideas and feelings do 
not result in action simply because they are checked by 
other ideas and feelings, and that action may just as 
readily take place without effort as by effort and delibera- 
tion, are what seem to confuse students in the study of 
this subject. All this would seem simple and natural if 
we could only realize the fact that through apperception, 
hahit, and the subconscious fountains of life, the accurmi- 
lation of all the psychic phenomena of the past is made 
the ground for our present actions. 



WILL, FEEEDOM, AND EDUCATIO:^ 275 



Deliberation is the Conflict of Ideas and Feelings behind 
which lie the Instincts, Habits, and Past Experiences of 
the Individual. If these pages present to you facts in 
accord with your experience and appeal to your sense 
of truth, they will probably start a conflict between these 
ideas and your previous habits of thought. The war may 
be long and vigorous, for it will probably modify some of 
the beliefs on which you have thought so much to depend. 
Finally, adjustment will come, and you will declare these 
ideas true or false. This is deliberation. 

But observe that if these pages produce deliberation at 
all, the kind and the extent of it will all depend ahsohitely 
on the mental condition of the reader. The child of ten or 
twelve will hardly deliberate about this discussion ; the 
adolescent will more readily accept it than the matured ; 
the banker and business man will more readily make the 
adjustment than the theologian, who may consider it so 
false that it is not worth his attention; still others may 
find it so in accord with all they have thought that it will 
only excite a sense of joy. This plain fact should be well 
elaborated in your mind, inasmuch as deliberation centers 
chiefly about the moral life, where each one develops by 
degrees strong sentiments about good and evil, right and 
wrong, pleasure and duty. These sentiments come in con- 
flict according as the mental contents of the individuals differ. 

Finally, all deliberative action tends to become habitual 
and secondary reflex action. When a decision is once made, 
it is more and more easily made each succeeding time, 
until it finally drops under some of the forms of action 
already considered. The strong emphasis laid upon this 
fact by the moral reformer is absolutely justifiable and 



276 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

far more so than is generally realized, but the law is 
universal. What was once the most irksome duty may 
become so habitual and secondary-reflex as to become 
pleasurable, devoid of effort ; in short, ideo-motor action, 
and as such to preclude the prohability of any other line of 
action as completely as in the case of the moral degenerate. 

Education and Freedom. From what has preceded, the 
notion of freedom and education appears paradoxical. 
About the time Calvinistic determinism was in its last 
death struggle, scientific psychology began to limit the 
field of freedom on an entirely different basis. This limita- 
tion is encountered whether you start from within or from 
without, from external freedom or from internal freedom. 

1. Limitations of freedom. This psychological limita- 
tion is enforced from within by all the hereditary influ- 
ences, natural tendencies, instincts, and impulses previously 
presented in this book. From without by the power of 
education to fix life, by environment, and by the fact that 
sociology has made it impossible for us any longer to 
consider man's acts apart from the acts of the social 
whole of which he is a part. In other words, his acts 
independent of others would probably bear no resemblance 
to his acts as a member of a social group. This constitutes 
the double aspect of our problem. Let us view it from the 
standpoint of education. 

For three hundred years the cry in education has been 
"follow nature." By this we understand that there are 
in soul life certain fundamentals upon which, if we build, 
the result is comparatively permanent, whereas artificial 
education builds on the less primary and fundamental, 



WILL, FEEEDOM, AND EDUCATION 277 

and is consequeutly less efficient and more easily set 
aside. In other words, that is most natural which needs 
least external stimulus to call it forth, and abides with 
greatest permanency. That is most artificial which needs 
most external stimulus to call it forth, and most easily 
disappears. The extreme form of artificial education is 
found in asceticism, where every known natural inclina- 
tion is considered evil and a thing from which the soul 
should be freed. 

2. Practical aim of education. For purely practical 
ends, if education is to mean anything must it not fix 
and strengthen some of these inherent tendencies and 
inhibit others ? That is to say, we must cause the indi- 
vidual to will in some directions and deprive him of the 
power to will in others. If this is not true, what does all 
our moral and religious education mean ? If, after years 
of toil on our part, the child is as free to choose the evil 
as the good, our education is reduced to zero and has no 
meaning at all. It is only preconceived ideas that have 
bhnded our eyes to this important fact. Even such a 
thinker as Lyman Abbott would prove freedom by say- 
ing, " I know that I can choose the good and therefore I 
can choose the evil." Such is the common way of solving 
the problem. Feeling that we are free in our accustomed 
line of action, we assume that we would be equally free 
in other lines. Provided I choose the good, does it follow 
that I can with equal freedom choose the evil ? Provided 
that I choose to work day after day at my book, does it 
follow that I can with equal freedom choose to loaf around 
a hotel day after day ? Can the loafer with equal freedom 
choose to write a book ? Do not such possibilities stand 



278 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

in inverse ratio to each other ? The more I am free to 
choose evil without any blocking or opposing ideas or 
feelings, the less I am free to choose the good. Suppose 
Lyman Abbott should be requested to murder a helpless 
mother and her children. Could he do it with the same 
freedom that he would give them food and clothing ? 

Common Evasions of the Problem. I know you have 
already answered all these questions with the common 
evasion of the centuries, by saying, " He could if he wanted 
to do so." But where shall he get the sufficient ''want" ? 
Mne tenths of all this speculation receives its death-blow 
because the if is impossible. Do we not attempt to instill 
in a child love for good literature, on the assumption that 
to whatever degree we succeed we disqualify him to choose 
the bad ? One who has been trained to live a noble life of 
self-sacrifice irresistibly does the good. It is not a simple, 
single act of will ; his whole psychic life is behind his con- 
duct. Can any act of will create a genuine hatred for your 
mother ? Fortunately heredity, education, and association 
have deprived you of this choice of evil. But you think of 
some Nero who did hate his mother. Yes, with identically 
the same heredity, environment, and education you would 
do the same. We often hear a person say, ''If I were 
in such or such an individual's place I would not do so 
and so." What he really means is that with his present 
thoughts^ feelings^ and inclinations he would not do so and 
so. But what if these were all changed ? 

The above cases may be called extreme, but they serve 
to demonstrate what education is everywhere accom- 
piishing in fixing human activities and beliefs. In most 



WILL, FREEDOM, AND EDUCATION 279 

cases life is so varied, and so many tendencies are educated, 
that conflicting inclinations are kept alive. Among men 
there exist all degrees of inherent tendencies. No two 
individuals are alike, and education and conditions often 
make the gap wider. Often a lifetime is too short to 
make one inclination supreme, and the undesirable force 
breaks through our educational barriers, leaving havoc 
and ruin behind it. '' When any man thinketh he standeth, 
let him take heed lest he fall." Even Buddha was 
psychologist enough to see that human conduct springs 
mainly from instincts and impulses. He names fifty-four 
such tendencies. 

The Feeling of Freedom. This sensation is due : (1) to 
the absence of conflicting ideas and feelings; (2) to the 
fact that the forces pushing us on are hidden from us, 
buried in our past ; (3) to hypothetical conditions ; (4) to the 
personal attitude after a struggle. The first two statements 
have been amply demonstrated in the preceding pages. 

1. The feeling of freedom includes many hypothetical 
conditions. The inquiring student will probably say, with an 
air of triumph, '' You know you are free to stop writing." 
I ask on what condition, and he again replies, '' If you 
want to stop." So far we are perfectly agreed, provided 
my '' want " is powerful enough to overcome all other 
desires and opposition. But let us inquire what this means. 
How can my ''want" obtain such power ? Take first some 
of the objective conditions. Yes, if the house were on fire, I 
would stop. If I should hear the cry of murder, I would rush 
out. If I should suddenly remember a forgotten engagement 
at this hour, I might proceed to fulfill it. If you should bet 



280 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

me ten dollars that I could not stop, I would probably do so. 
Should I behold a beautiful sunset, it might so entrance me 
that I would forget this work. Now examine the internal 
side. Should I feel weary and exhausted, I might stop. 
Should I strike a difficult point and uncertainty seize me, 
I might cease for a while. Should one of these suggestions 
start me to thinking about Goethe's " Faust," I might be 
carried off into speculations foreign to this topic. But if 
none of these nor of the thousand other possible conditions 
occur ^ I am going right on. 

This is the whole thing in a nutshell, and if this were 
once generally realized, two thirds of all the differences 
between the populace and the psychologist would be 
settled. I am now hesitating whether or not I shall stop 
writing. Many thoughts may occur that will turn the 
scale and cause me to stop immediately ; but if they do 
not come, I shall write until five o'clock. Let us examine 
further. I may feel my work so pressing that many of the 
things I mentioned above will not stop me ; or some of 
the things may not appeal so strongly as it now seems 
they would. I may think my engagement of little impor- 
tance ; or I may have formed the habit of never missing 
an engagement. All this will count. A schoolboy on the 
other hand might stop for a band, a street parade, a newly 
arrived robin, or a young lady going by. Wliether I stop 
or do not stop is entirely dependent upon what may occur 
and how it appeals to me at the time. Everything depends 
upon the relation of the occurrence to the thing in hand and 
to the mind of the doer. 

2. Are we free to expel ideas from consciousness ? Though 
a thousand proofs may be produced to show that our 



WILL, FEEEDOM, AND EDUCATION 281 

stream of consciousness is determined by association of 
ideas, yet some set up the claim that when ideas do enter 
consciousness we need not harbor an undesirable guest. 
Of course they mean to go a step further and add, If we 
do not luant to do so. But who shall determine what an un- 
desirable guest is ? There will be differences of opinion, 
depending on the variations of instinctive feelings, past 
experiences, habits, and the like. Many people are dom- 
inated by compelling ideas which they are unable to shake 
off. Are they all insane ? Have you not often been harassed 
by some depressing idea or feehng, perhaps even by some 
trivial thing, from which you were unable to free your- 
self for some time ? Had Luther seen on a billboard the 
words Catholic and Democratic, which would likely have 
usurped the right of way in consciousness ? Why ? 

Let us come to a personal test. / once saio a mother 
eating the flesh off of her then living child. What but my 
own nature and experiences determined how long I would 
think of it and dream of it ? Suppose a hundred different 
persons read this statement, will there not be a thousand 
different causes operating in determining how long each 
shall think of it? Will it affect children the same as 
mothers ? May not the student naturally turn to speculate 
whether it was said just for effect ? The law which you 
evidently see operative here is operative for all ideas and 
feelings, only in most cases it is more obscured. We cannot 
escape by this road. 

3. Is the after- feeling proof that we are free ? The last 
ditch that surrounds the camp of freedom is the after- 
feeling that we might have done otherivise. In the first place 
we could never tell unless we had tried it, and that means 



282 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

that some thought or feeling about it must have arisen that 
did not arise before. Our whole attitude shows that this is 
what we really mean. We express it by saying, '' If I had 
thought of this or that ; If I had not yet decided." This 
throws light on the second fact. Our feelings before the act 
and after the act are never the same, nor experienced under 
the same conditions. We say if we had this or that to do 
over, we would do differently. Of course we would. We 
have a different basis of action. 

Have we not also demonstrated that we are seldom 
conscious of the forces that lead to action ? The power 
of instinct, of habit, of unconscious imitation, of past 
experiences, of custom, of the social or psychic atmos- 
phere, of physical conditions — all are manifested through 
us, without necessarily being presented in conscious- 
ness as such. Likewise, does the posthypnotic sugges- 
tion produce the result although the individual is ignorant 
of the cause. 

Ways of conceiving Freedom. 1. From a psychological 
viewpoint that man is freest whose soul is so stored with 
varying feelings, ideas, and experiences that he has many 
possible lines of reaction to whatever conditions ma^/ be 
presented. Perhaps the most popular way of conceiving 
freedom simply means many possible lines of action. From 
that standpoint the most highly cultured man with the 
greatest variety and largest storehouse of ideas would be 
the freest. Herein^ properly directed^ education overcomes 
the apparent paradox and gives us different ideas and feel- 
ings^ thereby increasing the possibility and probability of 
varied reactions to various beliefs and to dfferent lines of 



WILL, FEEEDOM, AXD EDUCATION 283 

conduct. But under definite ps}xhological laws these ideas 
are stored away and come forth according to the laws of 
association of ideas. 

2. Individuals tvith some dominant feeling or idea witJiout 
any great inner conflict are often cited as proof of freedom. 
No agreement can be reached concerning psychological free- 
dom until we adequately divide the subject and view it from 
different sides. For example, there is a popular notion of 
freedom exactly the opposite of that just stated, yet few 
feel the contradiction. Such characters as Napoleon, Joan 
of Arc, Luther, Cromwell, Bruno, and Garibaldi, are often 
referred to as models of freedom. But their possible lines 
of reaction were greatly limited. Such characters are 
certainly efficient in tlieir line. They are the very embodi- 
ment of will^ but certainly not oi freedom in any liberal 
sense. The philosophical historian is puzzled to understand 
why Bruno should prefer persecution and death at the stake, 
to the propagation of his doctrine in the best universities 
on earth. There is but one answer — because he was Bruno. 
The artist Wirtz has brought out this idea of a fixed nature 
in his painting of Napoleon, in which he represents him as 
standing in hell, looking calmly on at the suffering as un- 
moved as he was on the battlefield. 

3. Again, hetween inner and outer freedom there is no 
absolute distinction. Many will say : '^ Certainly I follow 
my feelings and ideas, but these are my own ; I may keep 
them unspotted from outside influences. More than this, 
they are my very self." But the poet says, " AYe are a part 
of all we have met." Each individual, while assuming his 
incorruptible nature, dehberately proceeds to try to influ- 
ence and modify the ideas and feelings of others. From a 



284 eleme:n^taey psychology 

practical standpoint life is largely one great game in which, 
each individual or group of individuals endeavors to sub- 
jugate the greatest possible number to the greatest possible 
extent, and purely on the assumption that there is some 
avenue to their inner-life if it can only be found. 

The Moral Aspect. The moralist and the psychologist 
have been warring over words, not over content. Man is 
not something apart from these forces we have been con- 
sidering, and simply pushed on by them ; he is himself the 
stem total of these internal forces. Every day the moralist 
exemplifies the laws set forth in this chapter and proclaims 
them to the people. This view simply states that law and 
order reign in the moral world as well as elsewhere. Some 
say that such a belief in universal causation would paralyze 
action. It probably would have some effect if action de- 
pended upon such beliefs, but history proves that such a 
hypothetical notion is false. Suppose we make a historic 
list of thorough believers in universal causation and an 
equal list of nonbelievers, and see if history demonstrates 
any comparative diminution of activity on the part of those 
belonging to the first list. Augustine, the founder of phil- 
osophical determinism, was certainly not inactive. The 
fact is that men of energy and ambition are not paralyzed 
by any belief. They feel themselves a part of the great 
forces that are shaping the destiny of the world. 

Far from being immoral, this view is intensely moral 
Of infinitely higher value is the conception of law in the 
psychic world as compared with the idea of lawlessness by 
which the youth is led to believe that he may lead any 
kind of a life, any length of time, and then Jnst stop. If 



WILL, FKEEDOM, AND EDUCATION" 285 

ever we place moral instruction on a firm basis, it must be 
on the grounds that immorality produces permanent^ detri- 
mental physical and mental effects. 

We are told that from this viewpoint moral responsibility 
has no meaning. We shall see that exactly the reverse is 
true. Let us begin by asking what freewill has to do with 
getting hungry or thirsty. Hunger and thirst are implanted 
in us as safeguards to physical hf e. The feeling of 7^esjjonsi- 
hility performs a similar function for moral life, I hold my- 
self and others responsible for certain lines of conduct 
through inner laws of my being. That I hold others 
responsible is only justified hy the effect it may have on them 
and^ hy examp)le^ on others. This is seen in the fact that 
we would deem it cruel to hold the imbecile and the insane 
responsible. Responsibility is a moral medicine to the end 
of begetting healthy moral life. We may praise or blame 
the living : (1) for the effect it may produce on themselves ; 
(2) for the influence the example will have on others. The 
dead we may only praise or blame for the effect it may pro- 
duce on the living. 

Day by day as I admonish and correct my boy I am 
building on his inherited instinctive basis a sense of respon- 
sibility which I at least hope will become one of the 
determining forces in his destiny. On an assumption of 
absolute freedom, I could have no hope that this sense of 
responsibility would not at any time be pushed aside. If 
you can succeed in making a drunkard believe that he is 
responsible for his conduct and to his family, you have 
implanted an idea and a feeling which will act as a deter- 
mining force. Does it not seem strange that any one should 
argue a proposition and constantly practice the opposite ? 



286 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

It is said that, under such a view as is here set forth, we 
should never say to an individual : '' Now, look here ; you 
could behave if you only would; you could understand 
mathematics if you would only think so." But if we are 
not arousing something in him that will cause him to act 
differently from what he would, had we said nothing, why 
not save our energy ? We have a hidden faith in our 
ability to turn his action or thought in some other line. 

With the old idea that a crime committed must be atoned 
for by a certain amount of suffering, irrespective of the 
effect of that suffering on the individual, or its influence 
in preventing others from doing similar things, I have 
nothing to do ; it is beyond me. It is tliis old echo that 
lies at the basis of the objection that, if we are not free, we 
have no right to punish any one. Eational punishment is 
based upon exactly the opposite assumption. The individ- 
ual who commits an offense against society is supposed to 
suffer a punishment greater than any advantage derived 
from his act. The conseionsness of this fact is supposed to he 
a determining force in preventing him from acting. 

When a wise physician finds a man sick, he does not 
inquire whether it was of his own free will. He administers 
medicine according to the disorder. If suggestion and mild 
treatment will heal him, very well. If need be, he does 
not hesitate to inflict pain that he may heal him, but he 
inflicts no unnecessary pain. The same principle applies 
to moral disorders. Lying, stealing, cheatiug, selfishness, 
drunkenness, licentiousness, sex perversions, etc. are one 
and all moral disorders or variations from the standards 
of conduct, and all remedies should be applied only from 
the standpoint of prevention and recovery. 



CHAPTER XV 
MAGIC AXD SPIRITUALISM 

Historic Development. History tells us that primitive 
man was almost \Yholly occupied with the unseen world 
as the source of aU his knowledge and authority. The 
reported phenomena of this unseen world have assumed 
almost an infinite number of forms and varieties. One 
after another has been discarded as superstition, often to 
reappear in another form. Once the insane were supposed 
to be possessed of devils, and the wise to commune with 
the unseen world. The ancient empires all claim a divine 
origin. As to ancient laws, they all came out of this un- 
seen world. These large claims have been accompanied 
by every conceivable form of absurdity. To establish them 
the founders originated Magic. It was known before the 
time of the Assyrians, and its early use was connected 
with priestcraft. Nearly six thousand years ago the Egyp- 
tians had magic seances in which they were able to per- 
form the decapitation trick. They were acquainted with 
animal magnetism and hypnotism. 

The old magic fiUed the world with fairies, ghosts, 
spirits, gods, and devils. Those were the only substitutes 
for modern science. The spirits of the wronged dead were 
supposed to remain to torment those who would occupy 
their deathbeds. Again, the spirits of the living were 
supposed to be able to leave the body and, in a mysterious 

287 



288 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

way, do harm to a whole community. Witches destroyed 
men's fortunes in a night and avenged themselves on 
their enemies. The number of innocent victims put to 
death will never be known. In the small city of Treves 
seven thousand were burned alive, and a bishop of Bom- 
bury boasted that he had put six hundred to death. In 
Como one thousand perished in a year, and the Inquisi- 
tion executed four hundred at one time. Even Black- 
stone was so dominated by the spirit of the times that he 
declared witchcraft undeniable. The '' dancing mania " 
that followed the Black Death would indicate that all 
Europe temporarily lost her balance. 

Many wonderful things are reported and verified by reli- 
able witnesses, even in the scientific age of the nineteenth 
century. Belief in magic and demons, in ghosts and witch- 
craft, in dreams and premonitions, in supernaturally gifted 
individuals, has its roots far back of our stream of conscious- 
ness. The will to believe is a factor in life to which psy- 
chology has only recently given due consideration. Reason 
cannot triumph by showing these beliefs to be inconsistent 
and unreasonable. The ivill to helieve is not bound by the 
inconsistent and unreasonable. The echo of our ancestors 
predominates in the minds of the masses. Even though stage 
magic be openly confessed to be only trickery, yet thousands 
of wonderstricken souls will not have it so. Many magicians 
have had the experience of being ridiculed by a whole audi- 
ence for revealing the simplicity of magic performances. 

Necessity of Knowledge on these Topics. Wliat knowl- 
edge is of most worth must be answered anew for each 
decade. Our present social, religious, and psychological 



MAGIC AND SPIEITUALISM 289 

developments cry aloud for some definite knowledge on 
these subjects. Such knowledge may help at least to 
clear away the fog and mist from our mental eye ; to give 
us a broader view of the general development of mankind ; 
and to cure us of what Casson calls the crime of credulity. 
Such study will act as an antitoxin against illusions and hal- 
lucinations. This presentation can be only suggestive. Those 
who wish a larger view should read Hoffman's '' History of 
Modern Magic/' Evans's '' Old and New Magic/* Abbott's 
'' Behind the Screens with the Mediums/' Tanner's " Studies 
in Spiritism/' and scores of other valuable books. 

Interrelation of Magic and Spiritualism. To attempt to 
define either magic or spiritualism is practically useless. 
Each individual will insist on defining them to suit his argu- 
ment. The Standard Dictionary defines magic as ''any pre- 
tended or supposed supernatural or occult art." Occult is 
defined as '' visible to the spiritual sight only." A phe- 
nomenon may have all the force of the supernatural to 
the onlooker, while to the performer it is simple. The 
spiritualist will at once object to the joint consideration 
of these subjects, because modern magic has openly de- 
clared the absence of the supernatural from all of its per- 
formances, even if the easily gullible refuse to hear it. 
Not so with spiritualism. But, in spite of protest, magic 
and spiritualism ■ belong to the same family. 

1. They were one and the same in their origin, indeed 
the old magic was supremely spiritualistic. The first sep- 
aration of magic from spiritualism came when magic fell 
into nonpriestly hands and began to adopt the advanced 
scientific principles of which the public were ignorant. 



290 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

The Greek and Egyptian temples were storehouses of 
magic. The art of casting the images of persons, angels, and 
devils upon the wall, in the air, and especially upon the 
smoke arising from burning incense; the use of acoustic 
appliances for conveying the speech of the secretly con- 
cealed confederate ; the power to make statues automati- 
cally pour forth oil ; all these* and many more were due 
to the application of scientific laws. 

2. Magiciaois were also spiritualists. Magicians have 
possessed spiritualistic powers, and they always include 
spiritualism in their histories of magic and consider it but 
another form of the art. Pinetti gives us the first wonder- 
ful exhibition of supernatural second-sight. The great 
magician Cagliostro caused the spirits of the dead to 
appear at the banquet table as each man pronounced the 
name of the one he wished to see. The Frenchman de 
Kolta, who died in New Orleans in 1903, revived the 
ancient '' black art," and produced all kinds of objects out 
of space. The great " handcuff king," Houdini, says he might 
have played a greater part as a spiritualist. The greatest 
spiritualists and mind readers to-day are but amateurs be- 
side Pinetti, Mrs. Keller, and the son of Eobert-Houdin. 

Just after the French Eevolution Eobertson created a 
whole era of ghost-making. What a psychological moment ! 
One of the representative papers said: '^A decemvir of 
the Republic has said that the dead return no more, but 
go to Robertson's exhibition and you will soon be con- 
vinced to the contrary." Robin was the greatest of these 
ghost producers. His stage scene of a resurrection in the 
midst of a cemetery was so impressive that many fainted 
and others left the house terrified. 



MAGIC AXD SPIEITUALISM 291 

3. The i3S]jcliological attitude of mind, favorable to sug- 
gestion as a basis of belief, and the emotional conditions 
are essentially the same in both classes of phenomena. 

High Points in the History of Magic. As interesting as 
ancient magic may be, ^ye have already said all that space 
will permit. The artist Celline records an experience in 
wliicli he says that a priest, by use of the black art, filled 
a Colosseum with fierce and hideous devils. The fright it 
gave liim was a lifelong shock. 

During the latter part of the eighteenth century there 
appeared in Germany the greatest wizard of his time — 
Pinetti. Pinetti was a wonder-worker in many lines. His 
greatest performance was that of second-sight. He had a 
slave that freed himseK from chains no matter how well 
bound, and a swan that obeyed his will implicitly. 

Eead the story of that strange character and faker 
Cagliostro, the man who claimed to be of a land and 
time that antedates history, to have been on iatimate, 
secret terms with Egyptian kings, to have been a close 
friend of Christ and to have walked on the lake with Him ; 
the man who went about with three great secrets — power 
to heal all manner of diseases, a knowledge of Egyptian 
Freemasonry, and power to transmute ordinary metals 
into gold. He went about dressed in silk glittering with 
gold and diamonds, healing disease and converting kings 
and cardinals. He was reserved and dignified — even re- 
fused with haughtiness invitations to dine with royalty. 
Cardinal de Piohan was anxious to see him. He sent word 
back : ^' If the Cardiaal is sick, he may come and see me 
and I will cure him ; if he is well, he has no further need 



292 ELEMEIS^TAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

of me nor I of him." What a psychological stroke ! This 
was sufficient to prostrate the Cardinal at the feet of 
Cagiiostro. We are obliged to confess that strange and 
eccentric characters, who study the effect of such audacity 
upon the public, are thereby in a measure able to compel 
faith in what they say and do. The nature of the indi- 
vidual giving suggestions is a part of the suggestion. 

Hoffman pronounces Eobert-Houdin the greatest con- 
jurer of any age. He was sincere, honest, high-minded, 
and intelligent. He simplified stage magic ; his little table 
was a marvel of modern science. It had numerous rods, 
cords, pulleys, tubes, electric wiring in the legs, ten cords 
passing out into the stage. He had a '' hght and heavy 
chest," which, without being touched, at his command 
could easily be held on the hand or made so heavy that 
no man could lift it. He grew an orange tree on the stage 
which blossomed and bore fruit, which he distributed to 
the audience. He was the first to produce the famous 
'' Suspension in Air." 

What a wonder-worker was Hermann ! We still have 
Keller with his mystifying tricks and expert rope tying, 
the Davenport Brothers, Anna Eva Fay, Goldin, known as 
the whirlwind performer, on account of the rapidity of his 
illusions. Some years ago an eccentric conjurer startled 
Europe and soon became popular. He wears a mask, con- 
ceals his name and nationality, and advertises as the 
'' Masked Man." M. Trewey has the ability to appear, 
without false faces or hair, as several widely different 
persons. Evans gives twenty-five different photographs 
of this strange man that look like tw^enty-five entirely 
different men. 



MAGIC AXD SPIRITUALISM 293 

A Few Explanations of Magic. Is any one so blind as 
not to see the glaring psychological lessons to be drawn 
from this material ? Many explanations have already been 
suggested ; others you have successfully guessed. We 
know that the automatic doors, statues that poured forth 
oil as the incense burned on the altar, the images of per- 
sons, ghosts, and devils that filled the temple, were one 
and all produced by the application of the laws of physics 
and of chemistry, aided by psychological suggestion and 
one or more confederates. Pinetti's bullet which he caught 
in his teeth as it was shot from the gun was managed in 
one of two ways. The marked bullet inspected by the 
audience is not shot at him, but a similar make-believe 
bullet that falls all to pieces ; or the marked bullet is pushed 
down into the gun with a rod having a cavity and fitting 
tightly over the bullet which is pulled out with the rod. 

Cagliostro, like many modern deceivers, undoubtedly 
had recourse to hypnotic suggestion, aided by an unusual 
dash of bluff. His first requirement was a mystic religion. 
Ghost-making is done either by concave mirrors, con- 
federates, unsilvered glass, or by the black-stage perform- 
ance in which everything that is not to be seen is covered 
with black, and uncovered as it is needed, while the lights 
burn dimly to entice the ghosts out. De Kolta's wonder- 
ful performances exhibited in Boston some thirteen years 
ago were so produced. Eobin s powerful ghost illusions of 
the resurrection were produced by an tmsilvered glass 
twelve by sixteen feet. 

Eobert-Houdin paralyzed the Arabians with his " light 
and heavy box." They believed him possessed of super- 
natural power. He so informed them and then proved it. 



294 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

At will he divested the strongest of his physical power. 
This was the application of the electromagnet before its 
vise was known to the general public. M. Caroly's artificial 
skull, made mysterious by the claim that it was a copy of 
the death mask of Caghostro, contained secret magnetized 
plates. It skipped about on the table and answered ques- 
tions put to it by the audience. Wires in the legs of the 
table, an operator under the stage, a ventriloquist, and the 
wonder was complete. 

All automatons have a concealed confederate. All those 
who free themselves from chains, handcuffs, etc. manip- 
ulate the ropes or chains in tying, or in the case of hand- 
cuffs have keys which are concealed in various ways. 
These performers often have many secret pockets in their 
clothes. Sometimes a key is tied to a silk handkerchief 
the corner of which is within reach of the teeth. Again, 
it may be palmed or hidden in the hair or ear. One person 
was known to have a gold wire concealed under a ring 
with which lie made a key. 

Second-sight, later styled telepathy or mind reading, has 
converted thousands to a belief in occult powers. Now that 
these stage performances are all explained and exploded, 
people inclined to such beliefs take refuge in some indi- 
vidual case related by a friend. The first method used in 
second-sight was a disguised alphabet and number signs. 
A later method classified all objects that would probably 
be found in an audience into nineteen different classes. 
These were memorized by both parties. Certain words, 
such as '' What have I ? " gives the list-number, then 
another sign gives the number in the list. Keller amazed 
the people and increased belief in the occult when he 



MAGIC AND SPIKITUALISM 295 

abandoned all verbal utterances. By signs Keller gave 
the clue to the group and the number in the group to a 
concealed confederate, who in turn conveyed it to Mrs. 
Keller through an insulated electric wire concealed in the 
sofa on which she lay blindfolded. The process used by 
Anna Eva Fay and others, by which you write questions 
on prepared tablets, and by which you retain the ques- 
tions in your hand, and yet later receive an answer to 
your question, is such a plain substitution of chemistry 
for telepathy that I am astounded to find many intelligent 
people believing in her telepathic power. 

It seems that when such wonders can be produced under 
conditions so simple, the following psychological conclu- 
sions are inevitable : 

1. That a sane psychological study of such phenomena 
is a necessary guard to the young and rising generation. 

2. Even where departure from the known laws of nature 
seems absolutely evident, we should preserve an honest 
but unwavering skepticism. 

3. The fact that reliable and even distinguished persons 
testify to the genuineness of any occult phenomenon is 
not sufficient grounds for its acceptance. 

4. The mnplicity and openness of these illusions reveal 
the fact that concentrated attention unconsciously excludes 
other things from the field of vision. Hence our positive 
assertions that such and such things did not occur. 
Some one has reported a spiritualist as saying that when 
he has the attention of an individual an elephant may 
pass in front of him without being seen. 

5. Suggestion^ as presented elseivhere, p^lays a large p)art 
in all these illusions. 



296 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

6. The persistence of belief in magic and occultism as 
supernatural reveals their ancient origin and power over 
the soul, and demonstrates the difficulty which reason and 
science have in battling with long-established sentiment. 

Spiritualism. The power behind the belief in spiritu- 
alism is greater than that behind the forms of magic we 
have considered. The form and voice of loved ones remain 
so fixed in consciousness that we feel they must be seen 
and heard even when they are no more. If any one gives 
promise of calling them from the other shore, the desire 
to listen is almost irresistible. When the adolescent hopes 
one by one fade away, leaving only memory behind, and de- 
spair begins to settle on the weary soul, and w^hen a child or 
friend on whom all lingering hope is built passes into the 
silent abyss, we will ask the question which science shows no 
signs of answering : '' If a man die, shall he hve again ? " 

A great artist, one of the strongest-minded women I 
have ever known, who had not the shadow of faith in 
spiritualism, saw the silent tomb receive her only daughter. 
After this she sought some ray of hope from a dozen dif- 
ferent sources and theories, and finally appealed to spirit- 
ualism. She was about to believe that she communicated 
with her daughter when she discovered that the lady, 
whose mode of manifestation was through a trumpet, pos- 
sessed the power of ventriloquism. 

Aside from these impressions of the future wiiich seem 
to compel faith in spirituahsm, we observe that life is itself 
a mystery. Psychology is destined to reveal order in this 
apparent chaos of bygone ages. Dreams, illusions, halluci- 
nations, insanity, and exceptional mental gifts have all 



MAGIC AXD SPIEITUALISM 29T 

been sources of belief in powers external to the individual. 
I have no doubt that the origin of all these apparently 
transcendent phenomena will finally be found in the nor- 
mal individual, and that their dependence upon law and 
order will be demonstrated even to the populace. ''Science 
is new and faith is ancient." 

1. Some spirihtalistic phenomena. To separate spirit- 
ualism from telepathy and clairvoyance is possible only in 
definition and theory. They are mingled and confused not 
only in the miuds of believers, but by the performers. 
Spiritualism has manifested itself in many forms, such as 
slate-writing, spirit-photography, materialization of the 
dead, rappings, communications through a spiritualistic 
medium, either by voice or by writing. 

In order to disprove spirit-photography, I employed 
a man to scientifically perform and explain this fraud. 
Such fakery is accomplished in several ways. In this 
case the performer had taken from a newspaper the picture 
of a promiaent bishop, then ill in South America. From 
this he had prepared a negative. Although carefully 
watched he succeeded in placing this plate in the camera, 
and in reversing the plate to be exposed, so as to bring 
the two plates together. The lens being removed, exposure 
secured the second negative. A shadowy effect can also 
be obtained by pictures on thin paper placed in front of 
the plate and exposed in the ordinary way. 

Slate-spiritualism has been exposed time and time again. 
Many are the ways of doing it, most of them by clever sub- 
stitution. In one case the medium becomes impatient, 
seizes the slate and puts it under the table, asking you 
to put your hands on it and hold it there. As he takes it 



298 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

out he adroitly substitutes a prepared slate which he had 
concealed under the table or in one of his many pockets. 

Abbott gives many chemical receipts for preparing mes- 
sages. A message written with nitrate of silver and then 
breathed upon will disappear. When the slate is treated 
with salt water the message will reappear, not to be erased. 
There are many methods of writing invisible messages on 
paper which will appear when brought in contact with 
heat or even with a blotter saturated with chemicals. 
Envelopes are rendered temporarily transparent by colonial 
spirits. Are not these devices in line with the common 
shrewdness of the magicians ? 

Eor twenty years I have studied spiritualists and mind 
readers. I positively know that they employ every avail- 
able means to secure information — means that the average 
individual would never think of. More than once I have 
refused to leave my name, or at least my correct name, and 
to return at a given date, for I well knew the information 
would be skillfully used. That the mediums peddle inform- 
ation from city to city about certain persons sojourning 
there, is undoubtedly true. In one case a spirituahst gave 
a distinguished man the story of his boyhood days, with 
incidents that this man did not know of at that time, but 
verified afterwards. A medium in the quiet Kentucky town 
in which this man was born furnished another medium in 
the city in which he was then living, with all that was 
needed to make a sensation for Psychic Research. They 
often have one or more confederates who appear to be wait- 
ing their turn for a sitting. The confederates draw you out 
in conversation and later decide to come another day. 
Then it will soon be time for you — after they report. 



MAGIC AXD SPIRITUALISM 299 

There are only about five spiritualistic mediums suffi- 
ciently skilled to attract careful study as to content, ways, 
and means. The others must interest us chiefly on account 
of the effect produced on the public by such notorious 
frauds. In attempting to solve some of the laws and 
powers of Suggestion there is no better field than that of 
Suggestive TJierapeictics. 

2. Conclusions. No one can get an adequate perspective 
for the interpretation of the material presented in this 
chapter, without bearing in mind the conditions favorable 
for suggestion as presented in Chapter XII, and the proofs 
that the soul is larger than consciousness. Suggestion and 
autosuggestion go a long way in accounting for these 
phenomena. Missionaries and travelers from India con- 
stantly report mysteries of the native magicians that 
seem to have no other explanation. I once found my- 
self completely bewildered by a performance of these 
Indian jugglers. 

If we are to decide everything by reliable witnesses, 
then there is nothing under the sun that should not be- 
come current belief. Blackstone pronounced witchcraft un- 
deniable. In 1731 mysterious powers were developed by 
visitors to the tomb of a certain deacon of Paris. The 
visitors were said to become clairvoyants, etc. Soil from 
the grave was sent to different parts of France and cured 
all manner of diseases. Eeliable witnesses were produced. 
Louis XY finally ordered the cemetery closed. A witty 
Frenchman then wrote, '' By order of the King, the Lord 
is forbidden to work any more miracles here." 

IMiy should we believe in all kinds of magic, occult- 
ism, trickery, simply because we cannot explain or see how 



300 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

it is done ? More than once a committee of intelligent 
men from the Psychic Research Society pronounced fraud 
and trickery impossible, and afterwards discovered them. 
Eglinton so baffled the committee tliat some were con- 
vinced of his supernatural power. Dr. Davey was cer- 
tain there was no fraud, but one year later he had studied 
out a clue to the art himself. He assumed another name, 
put his skill in competition with that of Eglinton, and 
surpassed him in every way. He baffled all efforts at 
detection, wrote messages on double slates, sealed and 
screwed together, materialized a woman's head floating in 
air, and a half-length figure of a bearded man. 

Shall we accept Mrs. Piper's mediumistic power as gen- 
uine because we now seem to have no other explanation ? 
Some say such skepticism w^ould destroy all science. But 
when a man deals with a current of electricity or an atom 
in chemistry it is not cunning pitted against cunning. 
Does the atom say : '' Come, let us deceive him. Great 
gain lies at our door " ? The facts of science can be demon- 
strated over and over again. Why do not these possessors 
of new forces present themselves at some great seat of 
learning and demonstrate their discovery to mankind ? 
This is the most suspicious thing about the whole business. 
Genealogy counts for something, and these beliefs have a 
genealogy extending back beyond the history of man. 
Read the history of the warfare of science with this family 
of superstitions, and from an intellectual point of view at 
least, you will know better with wliicli to cast your lot. 

G. Stanley Hall says : '' Only when conditions can be 
so controlled that, for example, a teacher can announce 
beforehand that on such a day, hour, and place he will 



MAGIC AXD SPIKITUALISM 301 

demonstrate these things, can or will they be accepted by 
any sound scientific mind. Science is indeed a solid island 
set in the midst of a stormy, foggy sea, and all these 
phenomena are of the sea and not of the land." 

'' The mysteries of our psychic being are bound ere long 
to be cleared up. Every one of these ghostly phenomena 
will be brought under the domain of law." 

Finally, for a more thoroughgoing treatment of these 
problems, I suggest : 

1. That a complete exploration of the possibility of the 
development of the senses be made. Much of the mystery 
involved is due to our inability to conceive the extent 
to which this development may be carried. A few of 
these facts have already been given in the chapter on the 
senses. Vastly more may be learned. The common for- 
tune teller often possesses a power to detect changes in us 
that we do not know^ have taken place, and others that 
we believe absolutely concealed. Cigars, handkerchiefs^ 
and other objects are often found by the blindfolded 
mind reader through the sensation of odor. Necessity 
develops power. 

2. The amazing possible muscular control in great accu- 
racy, in rapidity of execution, and in exceptional move- 
ments and combination of movements must be explored to 
the limit. To have knowledge of wdiat is possible here, 
even if we lack the power, explains many a mystery. 
Without this knowledge we attach some mystery to what 
is e\ddently impossible for us. Our powers constitute our 
unit of measurement. Exceptional development in these 
physical powers will explain about one half that takes 
place and no small part of our illusions. 



302 ELEMEXTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

3. A much deeper problem is the relation between mus- 
cular activity and thought-power. Every thought tends to 
work itself out in muscular action. Often conscious ideas, 
or dimly conscious, and perhaps unconscious mental activ- 
ity, tend to seek appropriate muscular expression. Is it 
not possible that tliis common tendency may reach an 
exceptional development in certain individuals, even to 
the extent of manifesting the contents of the unconscious 
mind ? At least it is a field for future investigation. 

4. It is only proper to remember that in all such phe- 
nomena cunning may be pitted against cunning. People 
perfectly honest in all other things may play this one game. 
Our best friends may be employed as confederates. It is a 
game that many people like. The Fox Sisters, as early 
propagators of spiritualism in this country, deceived their 
parents for years. 

5. Eesearch and investigation into the power of sugges- 
tion will shed light on belief, on faith, and on mental 
intoxication concerning these phenomena. Personal experi- 
ence as to its power is a good medicine. Knowledge in 
this field of suggestion is in its embryonic development, 
is hmited and indefinite, but I predict that it is destined 
to explain whole systems of world beliefs. 



CHAPTEE XVI 
PSYCHOLOGY IX LITERATURE, MUSIC, AXD ART 

The psycliopliysical laboratory has rendered an invalu- 
able service to psychology. It is the chief mark between 
the old and the new psychology. T yield to no one in ap- 
preciation of its value, but for several years my interest 
has centered in the great storehouse of soul-throbbing 
psychology and philosophy as embodied in Literature, 
Music, and Art. Chiefly because here is a wholly unex- 
plored field rich in practical psychology, and, above all, 
an opportunity to substitute for a lifeless, rule-made, word- 
grinding, impoverishing method in literature, one of reju- 
venation and freedom, one that does not dwarf, but enlarges 
the soul. The disaster that may be seen on every hand is 
sufficient reason to force us to take refuge in some other 
form of interpretation. 

In the short space at our disposal we can only hope to 
suggest some different standard for judging these produc- 
tions of man, to show that their highest forms are pregnant 
with psychological life such as we have been considering ; 
to illustrate the difference between form and contejit; to 
demonstrate that the best creations of literature, music, 
and art are but psychology set to the music of the soul and 
valuable only in the degree that they call forth a similar 
response in us, and that no definite, fixed reaction must be 
expected or demanded. 

303 



304 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Inadequacy of the Present System. The individual 
drilled in the average courses in English may, so far as 
the formal rules of expression are concerned, become an 
excellent proof reader; but, like the character in one of 
Goethe's stories, he has shot out his eyes ; he has saved 
his respectability but he is blind for life. His whole con- 
sciousness is turned to the form and to the authorities on 
that subject. Whether one form is more beautiful and ex- 
pressive than another is decided not by inner appreciation 
but by authority. Tolstoi once said : '' If it were not so 
terrible, it would be laughable to think of the pride and 
self-conceit with which we, like children, pull out our watch, 
take aw^ay the spring, make a plaything of it, and then are 
astonished that it will no longer keep time." 

The student is introduced to rules of various orders, 
figures of speech, clearness, purity, precision of diction, 
differences between narration and description, story and 
novel, sonnet and lyric. Finally, literature is tested by the 
application of these standards and by the higher law^s of 
unity of time, place, and action, beauty of expression, ac- 
curacy of description. These, and not the appeal which the 
production makes to the life of the individual, are supposed to 
become the standards of measurement. What would be more 
instructive than to see some of the great writers confronted 
with a college examination in English on their own works ! 

Goethe wrestled with these ancient laws supposed to be 
necessary to the production of any great work of art. He 
says : '' Like the boy in the fable, I carried my mangled off- 
spring home and threw it at the feet of my father. But I 
could not give it up, and decided to learn at the very sources 
these theories, these laws, to which every one appealed." 



LITERATURE, MUSIC, XND ART 305 

Finally, after finding that Racine and others were unable 
to defend or justify their own works when attacked, he 
says, '' Having pestered myself a long time with this 
talking backwards and forwards, and theoretical quackery 
of the previous century, I threw them to the dogs and 
returned to the living fountains of Hfe." 

Laws of Grammar, Literature, and Art. The laws and 
rules of grammar, of literature, and of art have a psychic 
and only a psychic foundation. They are not laws in the 
same sense that we speak of the laws of physics, chemistry, 
and astronomy. This is the first lesson that should be 
learned in any serious study of language, literature, art, and 
morals. In most cases how directly opposite the process 
really is ! We either fly to the arms of the logical method, 
and assume absolute distinctions and entities in these fields, 
or we attempt to claim for these rules, laws, etc. the same 
validity as for those in the physical sciences. According to 
the logical method, a noun is either singular or not-singular. 
If I see it one way and you another, one of us must be 
wrong. '' L"p ! " is either a sentence or not-sentence accord- 
ing as it agrees with the definition of a sentence. '' Pippa 
Passes" either has unity or it does not. All is assumed to 
depend upon the objective form. These people have for- 
gotten the origin of the arbitrary definitions on which they 
build. In morals, acts are assumed to be objectively right 
or wrong. Those who claim for these laws of literature, art, 
and morals the same validity as for those in the physical 
sciences, usually develop this concept in the minds of chil- 
dren by ignoring the variability of possible meaning and 
the inner-content side. 



306 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

The more recent discussions of the subject only claim 
a few general fixed laws in literature and art, but even 
such have no existence save in so far as the fundamental 
nature of different individuals, races, and ages, and the 
modes of conceiving things, correspond. There are no 
objective atoms in which these laws inhere. Furthermore, 
laws that can be mathematically applied are free from the 
influence of the great number of sentiments that are always 
associated with literature and art. The laivs of literature 
and art are simply mental ivays of conceiving things ; they 
are snhjective and changeahle. So long as human intelli- 
gence, feelings, and sentiments vary in different individuals, 
in races, and at different periods of the world's progress, 
so long will we be obliged to content ourselves with approxi- 
mation to any fixed, universal principles. The laws of the 
physical sciences are objective and are not dependent upon 
our ways of conceiving them. Two atoms of oxygen will 
always combine with one of hydrogen to make water, 
but the formal relations of language have not the same 
stability. 

Ibsen expressed this truth in the best form in which it 
has ever been put. When his great work '' Brand " fell a 
prey to the word-critics who said he knew nothing about 
poetry, he replied : " Do not think that I am an arrogant 
fool. My book is poetry. If it is not it will be. The con- 
ception of poetry in Norway shall be made to conform to 
the book. In the world of ideals there is no stability ^ His 
prediction was more than fulfilled. Now '' Brand " is every- 
where known as one of the world's great pieces of literature. 

Even in such a simple thing as the plural of nouns and 
verbs we find some so absorbed in form that a conception 



LITERATUEE, MUSIC, AND AET 307 

of content is almost unthinkable. That the form is only 
the sign of the general tendency of tJiinkijig is seldom 
brought to the surface. If it be said that the student is 
unable to see this, I reply that this is true only where the 
individual has clouded his intellect by undue emphasis of 
form. The student learns his rules of English only to dis- 
cover soon that there are an indefinite number of exceptions. 
He may also learn that there are divergent views among 
the so-called authorities. In these two lines of daily obser- 
vation is the golden opportunity to present the fact that 
these variations are due to different ways of conceiving 
the content. On the contrary it not infrequently happens 
that the teacher believes it her duty to show that other 
authorities are wrong. Examination of a large number of 
rhetorics reveals the widest divergence of opinions. Wliich 
is right and which is wrong ? All we can say with safety 
is that some may more nearly express the present general 
usage than others. 

What is true in these simpler forms of the arts is more 
and more evident as we recede from habit and cnstom to 
what we call intellectnal appreciation and cestlietic taste. 
The emphasis of form is more and more dangerous and that 
of the psychic content more and more important, for in the 
world of ideals there is no ahsolnte stalility. 

Simple Psychic Elements in Literature. The material 
presented in this section does not presuppose a knowledge 
of the literature cited. The selections are chosen because 
of their special fitness to demonstrate the fact that high- 
grade literature is genetic psychology, common truth, and 
an interpretation of human life and conduct. 



308 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Practically all the psychic impulses, feelings, instincts, 
and powers known to psychologists may be found in 
Goethe's '' Sorrows of Werther." Not only is this true, but 
the climax of the work consists in grasping in a masterful 
way the great revelation of modern psychology that mind 
is under laws operating as inevitably as the laws of one's 
physical being. After describing a girl who is gradually 
driven to despair, he says : '' Shame upon him who can look 
on calmly and exclaim, ' The foolish girl ! She should have 
waited, she should have allowed time to wear off the im- 
pression ; her despair would have been softened, and she 
would have found another lover to comfort her! ' One might 
as well say, ' The fool to die of a fever ! Why did he not 
wait until his strength was restored, till his blood became 
calm ? All would then have gone well, and he would have 
been ahve now.' " Furthermore the compact, living, throb- 
bing psychology in this work presents the proper supremacy 
of feeling and instinct over intellect. ''Meister's Travels" 
is a storehouse of educational psychology. 

How pathetic to see adolescents turned from the psy- 
chological elements of gratitude, envy, jealousy, vengeance, 
shame, pity, love, and tenderness, common to their own 
lives, as presented in that psychological novel, '' Silas 
Marner," and switched to the stock-in-trade things that 
must be known about such a work in order to prepare for 
the time-honored examination ! This reduces the child's 
interest in literature to objective interest in a '' pass " and 
final graduation. The individual psychological effects upon 
the soul and its reactions are either ignored or suppressed, 
whereas, this should be the supreme object of all literature. 
If objective measurement by examination is ever justifiable 



LITEEATURE, MUSIC, AND AET 309 

in any subjects, it is certainly least justifiable here. The 
chief value is subjective stimulus to a deep inner life^ and 
this can only be inadequately observed^ never measured. 

In Schiller's first work his whole soul is turned loose 
to fathom the depth and relations of the feelings. In 
'' The Eobbers " many passages are similar to tliis : '' And 
how, then, must I too go to work, to dissever that sweet 
and peaceful union of soul and body ? What species of 
sensations should I seek to produce ? Which would the 
most fiercely assail the conditions of life ? Anger ? — that 
ravenous wolf is too quickly satiated. Care ? — that w^orm 
gnaws far too slowly. Grief ? — that viper creeps too lazily 
for me. Fear ? — hope destroys its power. What ! and are 
these the only executioners of man ? Is the armory of 
death so soon exhausted ? (In deep thought.) How now ! 
What 1 ho ! I have it ! Terror ! What is proof against ter- 
ror? '\Miat powers have religion and reason under that 
giant's icy grasp ? " Here there is an effort not only to com- 
pare the strength and operation of the emotions, but also 
to contrast their powder with those of religion and reason. 

Does not '' Pippa Passes " illustrate a great principle of 
modern psychology — the power of unconscious suggestion ? 
The night before New Year's poor Pippa is looking forward 
to her only holiday of the year; she hopes all will be 
well. This poor factory girl spends her day in the simple 
manner of going about singing the songs that lie deepest 
in her soul. Early in the morning Sebold and Ottima, 
whose marriage has just been accomplished by the murder 
of Ottima's husband, are suffering from a revulsion of 
feeling. Ottima, however, has just succeeded in diverting 
Sebold's mind when Pippa passes, singing '' God 's in his 



310 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

heaven." All unconsciously this operates on Sebold's 
stricken conscience and he kills himself, while Ottima 
offers a prayer and does likewise. 

Later Pippa passes Jules, who, by a trick of his fellow 
students, has had a woman of inferior rank imposed upon 
him as a wife. He has just found it out and is going to 
desert her. Pippa passes siaging. He suddenly decides to 
change his mind, to let revenge go, to love her and seek a 
new life in her own country. In the evening Luigi's mother 
is trying to persuade her son not to carry out his intention 
to assassinate the king. She has about succeeded when 
Pippa passes and sings a song which unconsciously for- 
tifies his wavering purpose. The deed is done. Again, her 
song prevents Monsignor from carrying out his intention 
to murder the Intendant of the Cathedral palace. 

The day is spent; she returns to her room at night 
wondering if she could ever touch these people '' magnifi- 
cent in sin." She is all unconscious of the danger from 
those lying in wait for her, or of the influence she has 
exerted. And those whose destinies have been sealed by 
her songs are all unaware of her haviag had anything to 
do with it. 

Is there any psychology that furnishes us with a better 
example of the power of unconscious suggestion, that gives 
better proof that life and conduct are under the power of 
a great network of forces both conscious and unconscious 
to us ? Does it not give a fair idea of apperception? Psy- 
chology is a study of human life ; literature is life objecti- 
fied and set to the music of other soids. 

Browning's great work, '' The King and the Book," is 
a powerful literary application of the psychological law 



LITERATUEE, MUSIC, AXD ART 311 

of apperception. It is a story told ten times from ten dif- 
ferent standpoints. The story shows how each group of 
witnesses is influenced by past training, social .relations, 
personal interests, prejudice, etc. Miinsterberg, in his re- 
cent book, '' On the Witness Stand," was not the first to 
show that it is not always possible to tell the truth even 
when an honest effort is made to do so. It w^ould not be 
difficult to write a book composed of these simple psy- 
chological lessons as taught by the great w^orks of literature. 
Browning is a conscious psychologist, dissecting the human 
soul to its minutest parts. In Homer almost the climax of 
artistic imagination is reached where it appears that the 
story of a civihzation is represented on the armor of Achilles, 
made by Yulcan. The reminiscence of Achilles, the long 
speeches that take place between the encounter of an 
enemy and the fatal blow, the long death speeches, are all 
keenly psychological and enforce the facts given under 
association of ideas. Dante's dramatic description of the 
relations and divisions of hell is only an effort to segregate 
the impulses, passions, and tendencies of men, and to show 
their relations. He describes a score or more of these. In 
the study of this great genius it seems a shame to have 
spent so much energy in quibbling about historic references, 
inconsistencies as to material, form, etc. 

The First Necessity for either the Production or the 
Appreciation of Literature and Art is Soul-Freedom. 

The untrammeled activity of the internal life is the 
first prerequisite to the production or enjoyment of liter- 
ary truth and artistic beauty. Such truths depend upon 
the deep, uncorrupted impulses of the soul, and the 



312 ELEMEIS^TAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

highest appreciation of them is secured in the same way. 
About one genius in a century lays bare his soul, speaks 
from his inner life, moves humanity. But how lifeless 
this same vital production may become when we try to 
grind out a fixed meaning with lexicons and dictionaries ! 
Carlyle says of Dante's '' Divine Comedy " : " As I calcu- 
late, it will last yet for long thousands of years. For the 
thing that is uttered from the innermost part of a man's 
soul differs altogether from what is uttered by the outer- 
most." May we not in the same sense speak of an outer and 
an inner appreciation of literary truth and artistic heauty ? 
Goethe tells the whole truth when he says in that 
masterpiece of all prologues : 

Just such a drama let us now compose. 
Pkmge boldly into life, its depth disclose ! 
Each lives it, not to many is it known, 
'T will interest wheresoever seized and shown. 

When Wagner, who throughout '' Faust " represents book 
learning, the word-grinder, objective education that never 
becomes a tangible part of the soul, is pleading for his 
profession as a critic, Faust says to him : 

Parchment, is that the sacred fount whence roll 
Waters, he thirsteth not who once hath quaffed ? 
Oh, if it gush not from thine inmost soul. 
Thou hast not won the life-restoring draft. 

The psychological aspect of literature, art, and music 
must dominate in any soul-inspiring interpretation. Deep 
must freely speak unto deep, according to tlie development 
and experiences of each individual. Any one standard in- 
terpretation of a great piece of literature is detrimental 



LITERATUEE, MUSIC, AND ART 313 

and soul-impoverishing when accepted hy others as objec- 
tive knoivledge. Let variety and freedom of interpretation 
abound. This does not mean that in our efforts to inter- 
pret a work of art we should not seek assistance from 
books and teachers. But the interpretation must he felt, 
and not accepted as authority without inner appreciation. 
The intellectual and emotional development of an individ- 
ual largely determines what may be inwardly realized. 
Hence any individual, at different periods of his life, may 
experience a variety of interpretations of a single work 
like '' Hamlet," and each interpretation be the proper one 
for him at that time. 

Symbolic and Figurative, or Psychological, Nature of 
Characters in Literature. This has been the central point 
of my psychological inquiry into literature and art. There 
is no claim that the suggestive examples that follow are 
the true or only ones. They are at least p)ossible ones. 
More than a thousand replies from high-school and col- 
lege students reveal the fact that the majority have no 
notion of the large symbolic character of the literature 
they read. It is not inability on their part ; it is lack of 
freedom and adequate suggestion. Ask the average reader 
of Tolstoi's " War and Peace " or of Schiller's " Wallen- 
stein" what it means. He will begin to tell you of war 
and bloodshed, of marriages and deaths. Is that all ? That 
Wallenstein is simply ambition pitted against duty, or 
that the family of Eostovs, in '' War and Peace," probably 
represents a spoiled and decaying civilization put in con- 
trast with the family of Bolkonskys, representative of a 
simple, honest, unspoiled people who have not yet developed 



314 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

the shams of an artificial civilization — such possible psy- 
chological interpretations seem not to enter the mind of the 
general reader. The average student might be able to tell 
you that "William Tell" and ''Pippa Passes" both violate 
at least one of the laws of unity, but he would probably 
never surmise that the characters in '' Tell " represent the 
simple, sinless, unpolluted people. This psychological fact 
might prove a helpful solution in accounting for the fact 
that it has lived and had such great popularity. That the 
gods of Homer may be conceived as abstractions for the 
natural forces, I learned long after my college days. I was 
compelled to wait until John Piske opened up a whole new 
world to me by showing that the gods were a complex rep- 
resentation of natural forces, personified ideals, and magic 
powers. Should we finally prove the historic existence of 
Priam, Hector, Achilles, Agamemnon, and Helen of Troy, 
the fact still remains that the poet gives them a symbolic 
meaning, and for him hate and w^ar exist primarily as a 
basis of heroic action. 

Burns's '' Highland Mary" is not symbolic of an abstract 
principle such as Beatrice becomes in Dante's '' Divine 
Comedy." Dante's Virgil is human reason, Beatrice divine 
insight. In Goethe's masterpiece Faust represents the sum 
total of the progress and destiny of humanity ; Wagner, 
the formal, book-made side of life and education; while 
Mephistopheles is converted from an objective, roaring lion 
into the subjective selfishness in man. In the hands of 
Tolstoi, Napoleon is a symbol of worldly ambition ; the 
simple characters in his beautiful stories are embodiments 
of moral principles ; and in his powerful story of '' Master 
and Man," Master signifies the superficial self somewhat 



LITERATUEE, MUSIC, A:N^D AET 315 

akin to Wagner in '' Faust," while Man signifies the 
depths of tlie human soul as it would be if uncorrupted 
by sham and hypocrisy. Ibsen never presents a character 
that is not symbolic and representative of some great idea. 
In his '' Hedda Gabler " her loaded revolvers with which 
she often aimlessly shoots at the stars are symbolic of her 
own life loaded with deep instincts and impulses that both 
attract and repel, and finally explode aimlessly, doing 
damage but intending none. Such conceiJtions are possible 
and psychologically indispensable to all soul-inspiring inter- 
pretations of literature. 

Any student of psychology will at once observe the 
biological basis of Bernard Shaw's works, while the ordi- 
nary reader concludes that he is simply '' playing with the 
people," or that he is intensely immoral. Shaw sees a 
society warring against the deepest instincts of the race, and 
speculates as to which must surrender. Stephen Phillips, 
building on the old Greek stories, puts a modern psychology 
into them. His little poem '' The Woman with a Dead 
Soul " is surely full of simple psychological suggestions. 

When once the mind is allowed freedom to launch out 
on these speculative interpretations and is stimulated by 
a little wise suggestion, the process becomes interesting 
and educative. Many tests with high-school students prove 
this statement. I have used many stories, but nothing 
more stimulating than one taken from Nietzsche's " Thus 
Spake Zarathustra." 

This is an ancient parable which Xietzsche puts into 
the mouth of Zarathustra to the effect that Zarathustra is 
watching a rope dancer give a public performance, during 
which a man faints and soon dies in Zarathustra's arms. 



316 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Meanwhile the evening falls and the market is hidden in 
darkness ; the crowd disperses, for even curiosity and ter- 
ror grow tired. Zarathustra, however, sits beside the dead 
man on the ground, absorbed in thought, forgetting the 
time. But at last it is night, and a cold wind blows over the 
lonely one. Then Zarathustra rising, says unto his heart : 
Verily, a fine fishing was Zarathustra's to-day. It was 
not a man he caught, but a corpse.' Having said this 
unto his heart, Zarathustra took the corpse on his back 
and started on his way. At the gate of the town he met the 
gravediggers. They flared their torch in his face, and rec- 
ognizing Zarathustra, mocked him : ' Zarathustra is carry- 
ing off the dead dog; well that Zarathustra hath turned 
gravedigger. For our hands are too clean for this roast.' 

'' Zarathustra, saying no word in answer, went his way. 
Journeying two hours through forests and swamps, he 
heard the hungry howling of the wolves and felt hungry 
himself. So he stopped at a lonely house in which a light 
was burning. And then Zarathustra knocked at the door of 
the house. Very soon an old man came carrying a candle 
and asking, ' Who cometh to me and mine evil sleep ? ' 

^' ' A living and a dead one,' replied Zarathustra. ' Give 
me to eat and to drink, I forgot it in the daytime. He 
who feedeth the hungry refresheth his own soul ; thus 
saith wisdom.' 

'' The old man having gone off, returned immediately, 
offering Zarathustra bread and wine. ' This is a bad 
quarter for hungry people,' said he ; ' that is why T am 
staying here. Animal and man come to me, the hermit. 
But ask also thy companion to eat and drink ; he is much 
more tired than thou art.' Zarathustra answered : ' Dead 



LITERATUEE, MUSIC, AND AET 317 

is my companion ; I shall scarcely persuade him to do so.' 
' That is no reason with me/ said the old man, crossly ; 
' he who knocketh at my house must take whatever I 
offer him. Eat and farewell ! ' 

" Then Zarathustra walked two hours more and trusted 
the road and the light of the stars ; for he was accustomed 
to walk by night and liked to look into the face of all 
things asleep. But when the morning dawned Zarathustra 
found himself in a deep forest with no road visible. Then 
he laid the dead one in a hollow tree at his own head, for 
he wished to defend him from the wolves, and he laid 
himself down on the ground and moss. And at once he 
fell asleep, with his body tired but with his soul unmoved. 

'' Long slept Zarathustra, not only the dawn passing 
over his face, but the morning also. At last, however, his 
eyes opened ; astonished Zarathustra looked into the forest 
and the stillness, astonished he looked into himself. Then 
quickly rising, like a mariner who suddenly seeth land, he 
exulted ; for he saw a new truth. And thus he spake 
unto his heart : 

'' ' A light hath arisen for me : companions I need, and 
living ones, not dead companions or corpses which I carry 
with me wherever I go. But living companions I need 
who follow me because they wish to follow themselves, 
and to the place whither I wish to go.' " 

Reading into Literature what is not there. Why have 
we supposed that our chief business is to find out just what 
the author meant by his work rather than what it means 
to us ? Of course I will say Shakespeare meant so and 
so, but always with the mental reservation that I mean 



318 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

he makes jn.Qfeel that he meant this or that. It is really 
of no consequence what the writer meant so long as the 
work furnishes appropriate food for the soul. Nothing has 
been more antireligious than the apparently never-ending 
war about original meanings. Again, we have the injunc- 
tion from Wagner: "To sum up all — To words hold 
fast/' and Faust replies : 

Ay, truly, even to the loftiest star ! 
To us, my friend, the ages that are passed 
A book with seven seals, close fastened are ; 
And what the spirit of the times men call, 
Is merely their own spirit after all. 

The greatness of literature and art consists in the fact 
that they permit us to read our spirit into them. The 
question is not what some one has said that this or that 
means, but what depths of soul-life it reaches in us. 
What do we feel that it must mean ? Have we an ounce 
of assurance that any one will ever know what Shakespeare 
meant by any one of his plays ? It is just this standardiz- 
ing the meanings that must be learned about great pieces 
of literature that has taken us away from the psychology 
in literature. It has given us the outer knowledge, the 
superficiality of form, and blinded us to the inner appre- 
ciation of deep responding to deep. 

Content should everywhere be the student's first con- 
cern; after this the/orm and technic. Let us just reverse 
the common order of studying these productions of mighty 
souls. Some even go so far as to say that it does not 
matter what a man says, but only how he says it. On the 
contrary, what he says is always of primary importance. 
There is no art for art's sake ; it is for humanity's sake. 



LITERATURE, MUSIC, AND ART 319 

The Psychic Atmosphere about Literature and Art. 

This subject has abeady been discussed under the devel- 
opment of sentiments. All I need do here is to emphasize 
its importance in connection with the study of literature 
and art. Every piece of literature or art tends to develop 
a psychic atmosphere that no more inheres in the work 
than the religion of the Middle Ages inheres in the Bible. 
Time is one of the chief elements in developing this psychic 
atmosphere. Multiplicity of opinions, comments, and writ- 
ings about it exercise an enormous influence. 

Time and the multiplicity of opinions never bring us 
any nearer to the original meaning, but rather make it all 
the more impossible. But the interesting phenomenon is 
the fact that the more this psychological atmosphere, 
which does not inhere in the work, but in us, increases, 
the more certain we feel of the proper interpretation of 
a great character or work of art. 

Some time ago four hundred teachers joined heartily 
in singing '' Lead, kindly Light." I then asked how many 
thought of the fact that this was McKinley's favorite song 
and that he asked for it just before his death. Nearly four 
fifths thought of these things while singing. It is a great 
hymn, but this is adding a psychic atmosphere to it which 
does not inhere in it, but which for all practical purposes 
will come to appear to do so. In works of inherent worth 
we cannot, nor do we want to, separate this purely psychic 
sentiment from them, but as students and teachers we 
must recognize this power and refrain from dogmatically 
asserting that this or that psychic atmosphere is the 
one original and true meaning. Are the Southern melo- 
dies intrinsically superior to Norwegian melodies simply 



320 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

because we feel their beauty and power more intensely 1 
Is not Shakespeare slightly greater to us by virtue of 
liis having been an Englishman ? I am positively sure 
that some day we will realize this psychic atmosphere 
sufficiently to cure us of dogmatism in art, morals, and 
literature. 

The Bible is a powerful book in its essence, but that 
there is a psychic atmosphere usually identified with its 
contents is evident in a thousand ways. Many are abso- 
lutely unable to submit to a critical examination of the 
Book, and others can never study it as they do other lit- 
erature. But is there anything in it that prevents such 
considerations ? Does this cliilly repellent feeling arise 
from the Book as a mysterious spirit which it emits, or is 
it simply the powerful psychic atmosphere that has grad- 
ually evolved in all Christendom and, like the invisible 
ether, pervades everything? 

Homer's Iliad is another good example of this psychic 
atmosphere. Doubtless it is inherently a great work ; but 
suppose it had been found among the Aztecs or South Sea 
Islanders, and thus been stripped of all its psychic con- 
nection with a powerful and interesting people and of all 
its three thousand years of study, praise, and adoration ? 
How different would it appear ! 

By what Standard shall we judge Literature and Art ? 

There are just two standards — - ivhat people tell you 
about it, and what you feel about it. Unless you tie 
yourself to what people say about these works of art, 
there is absolutely no law save the way in which they 
appeal to human hearts. 



LITERATUEE, MUSIC, AKD AET 321 

But some one says/' If the cultured and learned decide 
that any one class is of the highest order, should not this 
be taught to everybody ? " Yes, provided they can be 
brought to an inner realization of the fact. But here is 
exactly the stumblingblock in our modern conceptions. 
If tliis '' highest " must be learned as a mere rule, a 
dogma, or a mere jumble of words, positively no 1 It will 
then only be one of the means of blinding the individual 
to all internal truth and of leading to a loss of faith in 
Ills own inner life. 

Just at the present time we are passing through a par- 
allel condition concerning morals and religion. There is a 
slowly increasing number of so-called cultured and learned 
people who hold a radically different idea of morals and 
religion from that held by the masses. Feeling that this 
interpretation is the truth, some unwise pedagogues believe 
it should be made the standard for everybody. But suppose 
the masses can only absorb words and definitions. What 
good will come from having them hypocritically repeat these 
while still holding other beliefs ? Personally I have reached 
the point in life when I will accept what people tell me 
about literature, art, and music just in so far as it appeals 
to me as beiug a conception with warmth and life. 

No reader can be more conscious of the inadequacy of 
this presentation than is the writer. I regret that space 
does not permit a wider and more definite practical apph- 
cation of this suggested method. There are many signs indi- 
cating that this is the coming method in literary study. It 
was encouraging to listen lately to a great popular musi- 
cian, who in a public lecture took this position in regard 
to the judgment and appreciation of music. 



322 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

Music and Art. Of course art in its broad sense includes 
both music and literature. With the Greeks, music and liter- 
ature were the same ; however, it is desirable to direct specific 
attention to these two topics. All the general observations 
herein presented apply also to these productions. The prod- 
ucts of geniuses will take care of themselves ; it is our im- 
poverishing manner of handling them that needs attention. 

1. A soul-inspiring study and appreciation of art cannot 
be produced by the apphcation of formal rules and simply 
a knowledge of the true relations of color. No painting 
such as ''Breaking Home Ties" will ever be judged chiefly 
on its conformity to rules. Stand wdth me in Captain 
Howland's workshop for a few minutes. He presents for 
us a simple scene of nature. We apply our rules, and to 
ourselves pronounce agreement or disagreement. I then 
ask the artist how long it takes to produce such a w^ork. 
He replies, '' Not long after you have worked out the con- 
ception." Conception ! No one has yet seen any conception. 
We have seen only one ferocious animal on the carcass of 
an animal many times larger than he can eat, but warding 
off other starving animals. The artist informs us that this 
represents greed as found in human life. At once there is a 
stirrmg of the soul, a revival of memories, of associations, 
and a speculation about human destiny. These change the 
whole aspect of our appreciation. It is just these psychic 
associations and the general psychic atmosphere ignored 
by the formalist that constitute the soul-stirring elements. 
In short, it is possible for students drilled in objective 
knowledge to be able to talk intelligently of art and to 
copy with great accuracy, without the deep expressive side 
of life being moved. 



LITEKATURE, MUSIC, AND AET 323 

2. Ehytlim is the fundamental power in music, and the 
mystery of its influence over the soul is hidden in the 
unknown relation between physiology and psychology. 
Here the psychological and formal methods come definitely 
into conflict. I once saw a music teacher display the work 
of some eighth-grade pupils and then, with an air of triumph, 
declare that they had performed the most difficult thing 
in music. I naturally said, '' What of it ? " It was done in 
the same spirit that a plumber would do a difficult job of 
plumbing. Hanslick, representing the formalists, writes of 
music in the same spirit as many authors speak of rhetoric. 
He declares its aim to h^ formal, logical, scientific perfection 
alone. On the other hand Spencer considered it '' glorified 
speech," expressing the deepest cadences of the emotional 
life. In line with this, Wagner looked upon music as the 
emotional language of the human heart. Richter said of 
it, '' Thou speakest to me of things which in all my end- 
less life I have not found and shall not find." As one 
writer notes, it is psychologically interesting to learn that 
this controversy, with its objections and criticisms, gener- 
ally occurs over a production after the powder of it is felt 
and accepted. 

Perhaps the . f ormalistic attitude of mind was well ex- 
pressed by a music director who, in commenting on a great 
opera singer, said, '' I am always listening to hear how well 
she strikes the high and low notes." That is not soul ap- 
preciation; it is appreciation of skill. When these experts 
revile the pubhc because not every one recognizes the skill 
or is hypocrite enough to pronounce such a '' feat " good 
music even if it does not stir the soul, they are ignoring 
the fundamental end of music. "VVliat can be the object of 



324 ELEMEIS^TARY PSYCHOLOGY 

teaching music except to feed the soul-life vntliin ? Indi- 
vidual differences and variations in ability to appreciate 
music must be recognized. How many great productions 
in music, just like the painting above mentioned, appeal 
to us from an entirely different standpoint as soon as we 
get the conception lying behind the perfected form ? The 
highest musical art must in some way be related to psychic 
experiences and feelings of our own in order to be appre- 
ciated imvarclly and aside from artistic skill. Then viusic 
becomes the voice of past sonl-life echoing in our being, 
inspiring its and uniting us to the universe as nothing 
else will. 



CHAPTER XVII 
REFLECTIONS ON THIS HUMAN CONFLICT 

Summary of Previous Pages. Before presenting the 
reflections on this daily conflict, let us briefly recall the 
conclusions of the foregoing pages. We have considered a 
network of forces producing or constituting what we call 
human life. We first discovered that The Will to Live is 
absolutely universal and necessary in order that the strug- 
gle of life may exist at all. We found that the Instincts 
are the basis of action in both animals and man, that they 
are often the source of conflict in individual life, that Imi- 
tation develops and confirms these instincts and permeates 
the whole of human activity, that Habit sooner or later 
drifts us all toward a given destiny. We were compelled 
to give a large place to the Feelings as a power in human 
life and as proof of a complex and divided soul. The study 
of Apperception gave us some idea of the influence of past 
experiences on present interpretations, and showed that 
into every present act of life every past act tends to enter. 
We then gave our attention to the great Evolutionary 
Process by w^hich this network of life has been brought 
to its present condition. 

Then we directed our attention to the consideration of the 
more material and personal side of the same problem of 
human life. The Nervous System was found to be the only 
possible agent through which these forces can be manifested. 

325 



326 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Its limitations limit our possibilities. The Senses and their 
Development constitute our only source of knowledge of this 
external world, and any imperfection here means imperfec- 
tion in the higher powers of man. The Association of Ideas 
amalgamates this complex, heterogeneous life into some 
kind of unity which we call personality. Memory we found 
to be the storehouse of the mind and to be intimately related 
to Association of Ideas and to Imagination which may be 
dangerous or highly beneficial, according to its line of oper- 
ation. The Problems of Heredity and Environment gave us 
some idea of how infinitely complex the whole process 
of life is, and how difficult, almost impossible, the road to 
consistent conduct is. A study of the Thinking Process re- 
vealed the chief guiding power of man, and the source to 
which we must look for true freedom, unity, organization, 
and progress. Our consideration of Will led to the conclusion 
that this power is simply the resultant of all the forces 
operative in an organism at any one time, that the freest 
individual is the one with the best-organized stock of ideas 
giving him the possibility of many different lines of action. 
Suggestion gave us a glimpse of a self larger than our con- 
scious self and of our intimate dependence on and relation 
to each other. Social Psychology suggested larger interpre- 
tations of social institutions and of history. Magic and 
Spiritualism drew back the veil of the past and revealed the 
great game which we all in some degree are inclined to 
play with each other, and a psychic stream whose source is 
in an unseen world. The brief consideration of Literature^ 
Art^ and Music aimed to reveal the fact that the best of 
these creations are only psychology set to the music of the soul, 
and valuable in the degree that they call forth this response. 



THE HUMAX CONFLICT 327 

In this great weh of life all these forces, powers, facul- 
ties, tendencies, etc. are related and form some kind of 
unity. To what end do we struggle ? In what degree, if 
at all, do we realize the end of our struggle ? What is 
and should be our attitude toward life ? What are the 
practical educational inferences concerning our relations 
to each other ? Is consistent conduct possible in the midst 
of all these forces operating in man ? Space permits only 
a few suggestions on the purely psychological aspects 
of daily life, as lived by people round about us. With 
absolute ethical answers built on words and definitions 
we can have nothing to do. The following reflections are 
for practical purposes only. 

Pursuit of Happiness is everywhere the End of Action so 
far as it is directed by Consciousness of the Individual. 

As we have already seen, the social and biological forces 
may be directed to ends other than individual happiness. 
These hidden forces are so adapted as to lead to our gen- 
eral welfare if they are properly obeyed. If it be objected 
that the highest end of conscious action is not individual 
happiness but obedience to duty, we reply that obedience 
to duty is simply the highest condition of hapinness for that 
individual. His life is so unified about the idea of duty 
that he intuitively perceives that he cannot be happy with- 
out obedience to this unified power. I do not say that 
the end of our existence in this world is happiness, hut 
that so far as our actions are directed by conscious effort 
we aim at ha'ppiness. What a pathetic blunder we usually 
make of it ! Many of the forces which we have considered 
divide the soul in its pursuit of happiness. 



328 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

1. Tlie unified soul that acts with the whole being is the 
happy one. Happiness is more lasting than pleasure. How 
can any one with a soul torn asunder by a dozen different 
and contradictory aims, hope to be happy ? He may enjoy 
many fleeting pleasures, but substantial happiness is im- 
possible. In a fit of enthusiasm, after visiting the homes 
of some of the mighty dead, a traveler penned this sentence, 
''0 for the moral courage of Socrates, the wisdom of 
Aristotle, the comprehensive world view of Goethe, the 
artistic taste of Phidias, the firmness of Napoleon, the 
kindness of Schiller, the goodness of Savonarola, and 
the luxurious estate of Potsdam in the midst of which 
grandeur this sentence was penned ! " So far as happiness 
is concerned such a conglomeration of ends can appear good 
only on paper or to the imagination. Legitimate desires, 
realized in part or in full, bring happiness, and such am- 
bitions are the prime condition of progress ; but happiness, 
or the highest and most lasting pleasure, comes from train- 
ing and unifying our moral nature to some definite, useful 
purpose in life. 

Look at this problem in the simple conditions of life. 
Is there anything more pathetic than daily to see people 
longing for social preferment as a supposed road to happi- 
ness, yet either unable or unwilhng to pay the price in 
the necessary expenditure of time and money; others 
lamenting the harsh words, slights, and bitter treatment 
of mankind, wdiile tliese things just ooze through their 
whole being ; others struggling to accumulate this world's 
goods, yet daily complaining of being tired and worn-out ; 
still otliers fighting some noble instinct like motherhood, 
in order to realize some foolish ambition ; millions of 



THE HUMAX CONFLICT 329 

others charging even their friends with having the '' easy 
time" in life, and wishing the impossible thing of changing 
places ? Such complaints remind one of the fable in which 
each individual threw in a heap his burden of whatever 
kind, until the pile grew into a mountain ; then each took 
up what he liked best, but ere long all the burdens wxre 
again tumbled into the heap and each took up his oivn and 
departed. Such individual misery is largely a matter of 
temperament. The individuals think it is in the conditions. 
Conditions may slightly modify results and the direction 
of the complaint, but coyiclitions can never be the proper 
ones for such temperaments. A diversity of instincts and 
impulses are brought into conflict, and apparently small 
things stand in the way of the proper unity of life and 
action. Du Bois says, " Man is the only animal who does 
not know how to live." It is George Eliot who says, '' We 
are born in a state of moral stupidity." 

2. A spirit of aimless restlessness seems to hang over 
modern civilization, until the wisest seriously ask what 
we have gained by our boasted progress. The development 
of a highly complex society has greatly multiplied human 
wants and made their gratification so diverse and so 
apparently impossible that there is a reaction from any 
definite, fixed ends. However, there must be faith in the 
possibilities of life, ^ 

It is not he that crieth aloud, but he that cloetli that 
shall enter into the '' kingdom of heaven." '' To act and 
to love," says President Jordan, '' are the twin functions 
of the human body and soul. To refuse these functions is 
in a sense to die while the body is still alive, to make mis- 
ery out of existence." He further gives us tliis wholesome 



330 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

advice : " Thoreau says that ' there is no hope for you 
unless this bit of sod under your feet is the sweetest 
to you in the world, in any world ! ' Why not ? Nowhere 
is the sky so blue, the grass so green, the sunshine so 
bright. What then are you doing under these blue skies ? 
The thing you do, should be for you the most important 
in the world." Stephen Phillips gives a powerful descrip- 
tion of mere mechanical existence without feeling-life in 
" The Woman with a Dead Soul." In like manner, with 
great dramatic effect Ibsen, in one of his works, discovers 
a corpse amidst the thronging passengers of a great vessel. 
To dream ahottt happiness is a sure toay never to have 
it. Do not become an idle dreamer ahoict happiness. Hap- 
piness never comes to those who simply dream about it. If 
their ideal world were thrust upon them without their 
groioing into it hy their oiun efforts, they could not realize 
it or he happy in it, and ivonld he longing for something 
else. Purposeful, well-directed discontent is holy, hut aim- 
less restlessness is satanic. Many would-be reformers are 
like one of Ibsen's characters, who aimlessly shoots at the 
stars simply because she is restless and knows not wdiat 
else to do. 

Human Life is Inconsistent and Contradictory. The 

primary causes for this condition of human development 
are the conflict hetween the primitive instincts and the in- 
tellectnal ideals, and the intellectual effort to hide from 
observation one's selfish ends. Plato gives us a good example 
of the latter when he declares that the most unjust of all 
men must appear to be the most just of all men in order 
to have full opportunity to practice injustice. The fact of 



THE HUMAX CONFLICT 331 

this inconsistency is not to be regretted so much as the 
innocent ignorance under ^yhich each recognizes inconsist- 
ency in others but not in liimself. Much of this apparent 
blindness, however, is assumed and hypocritical, but that 
can be endured ; it is not pathetic, it is comical — it is 
part of the show. A man may see that a given line of 
action, pursued by all, would ruin the community or the 
world, and consequently himself also. He may openly 
preach veracity, and lie with discretion. But the pathetic, 
blind inconsistency of which I speak is the main source 
of impatience and intolerance. Knowledge concerning the 
conditions of our fellow men should beget patience and 
tolerance, 

Nowhere does this blind inconsistency dominate the 
individual so much as in religion. Here the difl&culty is 
due to several causes. Prejudice and apperception, as we 
have seen, tend to blind men to all interpretations save 
the one that suits their ends. Logic is applied to other 
men's behefs, feeling and faith to our own. Each hidi- 
vidual is inclined to proclaim the inconsistencies of 
another's religion while he remains stupid concerning 
those of his own. AMiat is still worse, seeing these incon- 
sistencies so distinctly in others, he beheves them dishonest 
in their profession of faith. We have been preaching reli- 
gious tolerance for five hundred years, and yet in many 
cases even the elect, who preach fine sermons from such 
texts as : '' Forgive your enemies," '' Xow abideth faith, 
hope, and charity," will become your unalterable enemies 
provided you honestly question their beliefs. Consist- 
ency, where art thou ? Fortrmately the world is gradually 
driviug away this black night which still hovers over our 



332 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

intellectual operations and judgments of our fellow men. 
Only he who is on the heights can see the rising sun of 
intelligence and tolerance. 

I grew up in a community of Baptists, Methodists, and 
Presbyterians. When twelve years old I had never seen 
a Jew or a Catholic, but I had heard so much about them 
that I could not see how a Jew could have a soul, or a 
Catholic good sense. About that time my first stay in a 
large hotel was blessed by the presence of several intelli- 
gent men. I discovered that they represented various 
beliefs. But no psychologist can imagine my mental shock 
when I learned that my model of polish and intelligence 
was a Catholic. That the children, whether of Mohamme- 
dans, Jews, Catholics, or Protestants should breathe an 
atmosphere which unconsciously develops such a feeling of 
intolerance toward other people is pathetic. The majority 
will remain blind to their inconsistency for life. I am 
compelled to quote that powerful sentence from Eousseau, 
'' men, be humane, be humane to everything not alien 
to mankind ; it is your highest duty." After a study of 
the foregoing pages you must be convinced that no one 
honestly holding a belief should be punished or censured 
for it. If he is wrong he is to be pitied and aided. Wlio 
can but admire the courage of John Stuart Mill when he 
says, '' If God sends me to hell for believing only what 
my best judgment and sense compel me to believe, then 
to hell I will gladly go " ? 

Again, inconsistency in religion, as well as in other 
matters or phases of experience, is often due to the crea- 
tion of ideals far beyond the possibility of realization. 
With exact logical argument a man expands his moral 



THE HUMAK COXFLICT 333 

maxims into an ideal state of affairs which he finds no 
one, not even himseK, able to attain. Not all who preach 
one doctrine and live another are hypocrites ; they are 
simply unable to make the idealistic and realistic har- 
monize. Ibsen is correct when he repeatedly shows with 
dramatic force the effect of carrying a multitude of dead 
ideals — ideals that are not even vitalized hy the j^ossi- 
hility of attainment. They constitute our make-believe 
righteousness which gives a dual aspect to conduct and life. 
I in no wise depreciate the value of ideals either for the 
individual or for society. As elsewhere shown they are 
powers in forming character when they bear the proper 
relation to the realistic; but a consciousness of this con- 
flict between the realistic and the ideahstic explains many 
contradictions and inconsistencies of life. 

Needed Reforms in our Moral Education. Let us say 

once more that unless the end of life is ethical and moral, 
so far as we are concerned, it has no meaning. What does 
it all mean ? AVliat will be the outcome of what I do 
to-day ? to-morrow ? Is life only vanity and vexation of 
spirit ? These are questions that come down the ages. 

1. A sound knowledge of liological laws must modify 
the old ideas of punishment. The inevitable laws of life 
can be observed and studied everywhere, and every- 
wdiere we can ascertain the truth of the statement that 
'' A\Qiatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Life 
is not any easy thing, made and unmade at the command 
of some mystic power called will. We have already seen 
how life, intellectual and moral, is gradually shaped by 
the forces we have been considering. Proper foresight and 



334 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

education may give guidance to these forces, but we cannot 
escape their influence. We must eradicate the idea that 
things are right or wrong irrespective of conditions, rela- 
tions, and effects. They are right or wrong only because 
they advance or interfere with the highest development 
of the individual and of humanity. It is a disgrace to our 
system of education to read in medical authorities of the 
many ills of humanity and the wrongdoing, which arise 
from ignorance concerning the vital laws of human life. 

In our efforts to control and protect these moral forces 
we must work in accordance with the psychological laws 
of life. McDougall suggests four stages in the operation of 
these forces by which character is gradually evolved. The 
first is the stage of instinctive behavior, modified by the 
influence of immediate pains and pleasures. The second 
stage is that development in which instinctive impulses 
are modified by the anticipation of material rewards and 
physical punishments. This would suggest to us the low 
order of rewards and punishments in the discipline of 
children. There is also another form of this discipline, 
superior to that administered by individuals. I refer to 
the material rewards and punishments of environment and 
social conditions. This is the clearest application of the 
Spencerian doctrine oi ptcnishment hy natural consequences. 
Of course the doctrine is capable of a much wider appli- 
cation. Nature never fails to punish us for violation of 
her laws. 

In the third stage of this development conduct is con- 
trolled mainly by the anticipation of social praise or blame. 
We now rise to a more psychic and moral plane of conduct. 
Under Social Psychology we learned how powerful are the 



THE HUMAN COI^^FLICT 335 

social laws, customs, and traditions in compelling the indi- 
vidual to certain lines of action. Let each reader examine 
his own life as to how far his conduct is dominated by 
this power of social praise and blame. 

The last and highest form of this creative personality 
and character is that in which condiict is guided ly ideals 
which enable men to rise above social praise or blame. This 
is the highest life we know of for humanity. This inner 
sincerity and serenity of soul is also the surest road to 
abiding happiness. "My peace I give unto you: my peace 
I leave with you." But it is an inner peace, an inner con- 
sciousness of indivichial worth. There may be many ways 
suggested for securing this desired inner state, which the 
Greeks placed above everything else ; but from a psycho- 
logical viewpoint virtue and sincerity of purpose are para- 
mount. Hopeless is the peace of the one who depends 
upon the opinions of others, upon position in life, or upon 
worldly goods. 

A man once said to me, '' The sincere individual is 
always misunderstood." Perhaps there is more truth in 
this apparent paradox than we at first think. But the 
sincere man has an inner reward which the insincere knows 
not. I have often been touched with sympathy for the 
great souls of earth because they were not understood even 
by their nearest friends; but Schopenhauer's keen saying 
applies to them, '' He who is on the heights must of ne- 
cessity be alone." They were too deep and honest to be 
understood. It takes courage, and perhaps some suffering, 
to become reconciled to being misinterpreted. Maeterlinck 
says, '' Grief is love's first food, and every love that has 
not been fed on a little pure suffering must die." I am 



336 ELEMEKTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

inclined to think that this is also true of other noble 
and deep sentiments of human life. It is vain popularity 
that divides the soul and stands in the way of sincerity. 
'' Nothing distresses us when we have ceased to fear it," 
is a wise saying of Seneca. 

2. In this process of creating moral personality many 
stop at various levels. Eealizing that we are under the 
power of many inner and outer forces, every means possi- 
ble should be used to secure self-control. 

Personality is partly a matter of temperament, of strength, 
of instincts, and of native constitution ; but it is neverthe- 
less subject to unlimited training and development. This 
side of it depends chiefly upon purposes and ideals, but 
we often forget that these repeated as bare words and 
empty mottoes have little power. They must be built into 
and become a vital part of one's nature. 

Plato's degraded democratic government is representa- 
tive of the individual who allows all his passions, appetites, 
and sentiments to vote on all his conduct. Poverty and 
luxury are the two extremes where self-control is least 
readily developed. The inordinate love of pleasure and of 
the easy life is ruining the children of the upper classes. 
On the other hand, under the sting of distressing poverty 
and the fierce struggle for existence self-control is more 
easily imagined than exercised. If James's moral equivalent 
for war could be carried out, if we had some way by which 
the sons of the wealthy could be compelled to serve the 
nation a certain number of years, not necessarily in war, but 
in administering to distressed humanity, in liberating en- 
tombed miners, in rebuilding a city destroyed by disaster, in 
rescuing stranded vessels, etc., the gods could never bestow 



THE HUMAN CONFLICT 33T 

a greater blessing on such youthful lives, to say nothing 
of the immense good resulting to humanity. It would give 
them a sense of moral worth. 

For those who desire but fail to attain self-control 
permit me to offer a few practical suggestions. What 
troubles you most is not the lack of certain things, hut 
the helief that you cannot he happy without them. Are you 
sure that their possession would make you happy ? Cer- 
tainly to desire and not to obtain makes you unhappy. 
'' Yes," you say, '' that sounds well, but I cannot help 
desiring." You devote much attention and energy to other 
things. Have you ever devoted any to this self -discipline ? 
Have you ever even reflected upon it ? Have you ever read 
books upon it ? Have you ever read the lives of others who 
have succeeded ? Have you ever summoned your pride to 
war against your vanity ? Do you see Socrates standing in 
the market place enjoying the beautiful things because he 
does not want them? Do you hear the dying words of 
Spinoza, '' I thank God that I never smiled on any man 
that I might use him ? " Some one has been invited to a 
dinner and you have not. Have you paid the price, which 
is usually flattery and subserviency? If not, be ashamed 
to still wish for it. You are fighting for the best seat in 
some public place ; of your own free will let the other 
weary individual have it once, and observe how noble the 
feeling that follows. Finally, have you ever torn envy 
from your heart ? If you have not, it will torment you to 
the day of your death. 

3. The use of social hlame as a means of persecution and 
compulsion often hreeds a spirit of faultfinding damaging 
both to society and to the individual. It is superficial and 



338 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

mainly the expression of a personal attitude. It deals not 
with principles or vital things, but with the petty and non- 
essential. It extends from the faultfinding of nation with 
nation, down to the destruction of peace between private 
friends. In public life it often saddens the lives of many 
noble citizens and prevents thousands of honest people from 
taking part in public affairs. It is a menace to our public 
IV elf are, to our peace and happiness. We do not decry well- 
grounded criticism, but this faultfinding spirit that leads 
to monstrous inferences from meager, insignificant data is 
an abuse of our modern freedom. From a psychological 
viewpoint we must not overlook the immeasurable damage 
done the faultfinder himself. His mind is poisoned with 
a pessimistic attitude toward mankind, which will, how- 
ever, be bad enough from contact with the actual facts of 
life. We need good intentions, veracity, honor, and honesty, 
Socrates defined a lie as the misrepresentation of the truth 
with an intent to injure. Why should we not define 
veracity as the representation of the truth with an intent 
to benefit? Does not decent Christian respect for others 
forbid the pubhcity of even the truth save in such a 
manner as to produce good results ? In the language of 
Buddha, '' Tell the truth with discretion." It would be 
so in everyday life if vengeance, hate, jealousy, and 
narrow-minded selfislmess did not crowd out the notion 
of other people's welfare. Plato is right : " The wise man 
punishes not because some one has sinned, but that he 
may sin no more." 

Examine another phase of this chronic faultfinding 
wherein the individual faultfinder is tlie chief sufferer. 
Psychologically it would appear that there are people for 



THE HUMAN CONFLICT 339 

whom Nature never grew a tree straight enough, never 
made a suitable abiding place on earth, nor ever endowed 
a child with the proper combination of powers. With these 
people the fundamentals are lost sight of and they wear 
their lives out over the irremediable and nonessential. 
Some individuals develop this spirit to an excessive degree. 
Their peace of mind is contiuually destroyed by some rela- 
tively insignificant thing which they are powerless to 
remedy. Of course the sad thing is, they cannot see that 
it is relatively insignificant, 

4. The evolution of moral ideas and practices should he a 
stable part of every one's education. We must realize that 
morality is a world-wide movement, that it did not originate 
as an arbitrary command, but that it is the expression of 
the fundamental longing of human hearts everywhere, and 
that the struggles and endeavors of man have at all times 
brought to the front this deep current of life. I will even 
be bold enough to suggest that a series of readers, consisting 
of the best in all the religions of humanity, omitting nothing 
that would be uplifting, whether it be found among the 
Hottentots, the Hindus, the Egyptians, the Greeks, or the 
latest developed religions of our day, should be prepared 
for use in our schools. 

All through this volume and especially in the chap- 
ters on Apperception, The Feelings, and Social Psychology, 
prominence has been given to forces and conditions, both 
external and internal, that unconsciously shape human 
destiny. Of what value is such knowledge? How can it 
be used in intellectual and moral education ? Certainly no 
one will deny that such knowledge adds to our compre- 
hension of life and conduct, and ought to lead to a better 



340 ELEMEiS^TAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

consideration and regulation of conduct. Its practical appli- 
cation in an educational way has been given some atten- 
tion by every great educator since the days of Confucius 
and Plato. The latter made clear that the development of 
aesthetic appreciation is largely a matter of unconscious 
absorption. Even to realize that the deepest and most 
powerful part of education can never be measured in terms 
of objective consciousness v*^ould lead to a fundamental 
modification of our curriculum and of our methods. Wald- 
stein and others have suggested many practical ways of 
adjusting life to these subtle forces. Solid foundations are 
laid out of sight. 

5. Finally^ we must trust the inner nature of the child 
and build on it ; we must realize that instincts^ innate tenden- 
cies^ feelings^ and desires — these and nothing more are 
fundamental in character. This is the most difficult step 
in the transition to our modern idea of morality. It must 
come ; but it will change our whole attitude toward crime 
and immorality. To realize this is to transform a large part 
of our course of study and revise our methods. That noted 
physician, Dr. Osier, in his lecture, " Science and Immor- 
tality," says : '' The remarkable development of the material 
side of existence may make us feel that Eeason is King, 
with Science as the Prime Minister, but this is a most short- 
sighted view of the situation. To-day as always the heart 
controls not alone the beliefs but the actions of men, in 
whose life the head counts for little." 

Our souls should vibrate in unison with the heart-throbs 
of humanity. Let us not call ourselves cultured unless our 
feeling of responsibility has increased in proportion to our 
attainments in life. The tense echo of '' back to nature," 



THE HUMAN CONFLICT 341 

as seen in Eousseau, Goethe, Tolstoi, Ibsen, Neitzsche, and 
others, means that these geniuses felt the presence of two 
currents of life which never mix. Who, when he is honest, 
does not feel that a large percentage of the morality in his 
own life and in that of others is not genuine and must 
sooner or later collapse ? Laws, forms, artificial customs, 
etc., get so far in advance of the deep impulses of life 
that we can no longer bear the strain. 

When the whole atmosphere is full of deceit, hypocrisy, 
lying, and efforts to take advantage of others, how much 
have we a right to expect of children ? To express my 
faith in children I can do no better than to quote that 
powerful sentence from Goethe's '' Sorrows of Werther": 
" Yes, my dear Wilhelm, nothing on this earth affects my 
heart so much as children. When I look on at their 
doings ; when I mark in the little creatures the seeds of 
all those virtues and qualities which they will one day 
find so indispensable ; when I behold in the obstinate all 
the future firmness and constancy of a noble character; 
in the capricious, that levity and gayety of temper which 
will carry them lightly over the dangers and troubles of 
life, their whole nature simple and unpolluted — then I 
call to miod the golden words of the Great Teacher of 
mankind, ' Unless we become like one of these.' And now 
my friend, these children, who are our equals, whom we 
ought to consider as our models, we treat them as though 
they were our subjects. They are allowed no will of their 
own. And have we, then, none ourselves ? Wlience comes 
our exclusive right ? Is it because we are older and more ex- 
perienced ? Great God ! from the height of thy heaven thou 
beholdest big children and little children, and no others." 



342 ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 

Now we are at the close of this book, which lays no 
claim to completeness. If it has awakened interest and 
stimulated further study of these problems, its end is accom- 
plished. In the educational, ethical, and practical activi- 
ties of life I hold that any principle carried to its logical 
extreme is self -contradictory. Formal logic and life never 
did and never will square with each other. All universal 
principles, such as love your enemy as yourself, defeat 
their own end when applied without regard to conditions 
and with that universahty which formal logic demands. 
To know life, especially human life, in its deepest and best 
sense, to the end of making it fuller and richer should 
be the end of all study and striving. 



INDEX OF AUTHORS 



PA OK 

Abbott, Lyman. Outlook, November 11, " Why I am not a Universalist " . 277 

American Book Company (Publishers). Fig. 8 118 

American Journal of Psychology, 1892 160 

Appleton and Company (Publishers). Fig. G 112 

Ayers, Edward. Harper's Magazine, September, 1913 151 

Bateson. Material for the Study of Variation 151 

Bergson. Creative Evolution (p. 5) 245 

Bernheira 239 

Betts. Mind and its Education (p. 207) 89, 90 

Bragg. School Science and Mathematics (Vol. XIII, No. 1) 148 

Bramwell. Hypnotism, its History, Practice, and Theory 235, 242 

Brinton 20, 34, 206 

Brinton. Basis of Social Relations 229 

Browning. Pippa Passes , 309 

Browning. The King and the Book 197, 310 

Calkins. First Book in Psychology (pp. 216-232) 273 

Campbell. School Science and Mathematics (Vol. XIII, No. 1) 148 

Carlyle 312 

Carmon, A. P. School Science and Mathematics (Vol. XIII, No. 1) . . . 148 

Cams. Gospel of Buddha 95 

Darwin. Origin of Species (last edition) 106 

Darwin 24, 92, 104, 110, 202 

Davidson. History of Education 253 

De Vries. Evolution by Mutation 104 

Dewey, John. How Ave Think (p. 171) 228 

Dewey, John. How we Think (p. 189) 230 

Drummond 15, 51, 71 

DuBois 155,251,329 

Ebbinghaus 195 

Einstein. School Science and Mathematics (Vol. XIII, No. 1) 148 

Evans. Emotional Ethics and Animal Psychology (p. 177) 12 

Evans. The Old and New Magic (p. 88) 290, 291 

Evans. The Old and New Magic 182, 293 

Fechner 141 

Fiske, John. Excursions of an Evolutionist (p. 150) 106 

Fiske, John. Excursions of an Evolutionist (p. 148) 110 

Forbes 14 

Eraser 159 

Freud. Die Traumdeutung (second edition, Vienna, 1909) 176,177 

Freud. American Journal of Psychology (Vol. XXI, No. 2) .... 246, 247 

Galton. Inquiries into Human Faculty (p. 85) 181 

Gal ton. Inquiries into Human Faculty 190, 200 

Ginn and Company (Publishers). Figs. 1 and 5 83,87 

Goethe. Meister's Travels 50,308 

Goethe. Sorrows of Werther 48, 55, 308, 341 

Goethe. Faust 93, 312, 318 

Goethe 15, 47, 216, 227, 304 

Hall, G. Stanley. Adolescence (Vol. II, p. 59) 47 

Hall, G. Stanley. Adolescence (Vol. II, pp. 129, 142) 16 

Hall, G. Stanley. Adolescence (Vol. II) 122 

Hall, G. Stanlev. Introduction to Tanner's Spiritism (p. 31) .300 

Hall, G. Stanley. Problems of Education (Vol. I, pp. 70-90) 108 

Hall, G. Stanley. Problems of Education (Vol. I, pp. 120-122) 73 

Hensoldt 261 

Hering 182 

Hodge. Nature Study and Life (p. 468) 98 

Holland, J. G. The Sins of the Imagination 194 

Hope, Lawrence. India's Love Lyrics 57 

Ibsen. Brand 306 

343 



344 ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 

PAGE 

Jabson 14 

James, William. Human Immortality 181 

James, William. Psychology (Vol. II, p. 45) 189 

James, William. Psychology (Vol. II, p. 449) 270 

James, William. Psychology (Vol. II, p. 487) 272 

James, William. Psychology (Vol. II) 20 

James, William. Varieties of Religious Experiences 58 

Jordan, David Starr. Footnotes to Evolution (p. 286) 113 

Jordan, David Starr. Footnotes to Evolution (p. 2G9) 9 

Jordan, David Starr. Philosophy of Despair 57 

Jung. American Journal of Psychology (Vol. XXI, No. 2, p. 243) .... 178 

Kirkpatrick. Genetic Psychology (p. 246) 181 

Le Bon. The Crowd 234, 258 

Le Bon. The Crowd (p. 54) 261 

Livingstone, E. & S. (Publishers). Figs. 7, 12, and 13 116, 123, 124 

Locke, John 154 

London, Jack. The Call of the Wild 208 

Maeterlinck. Voice of Silence 109 

McDougall. Social Psychology (p. 103) 23 

JVIcDougall. Social Psychology (p. 124) 52 

McDougall. Social Psychology 67,334 

Mercier. Psychology Normal and Morbid (p. 60) 216 

]Mercier. Psychology Normal and Morbid (p. 4G) 131 

Mill, John Stuart 332 

Miller. The Psychology of Thinking (p. 82) 182 

Miller. The Psychology of Thinking 267 

Morgan. Habit and Instinct (pp.254, 256) 8 

Morgan. Habit and Instinct 20, 23, 36, 165 

Nietsche. Thus spake Zarathustra 216, 227, 315, 317 

Paulsen. Introduction to Philosophy (p. 195) 106 

Prince . 252 

Read. Introduction to Psychology (p. 123) 161 

Ribot. Psychology of Emotions (p. 63) 57 

Ribot. Psychology of Emotions (p. 58) 59 

Ribot 67,186 

Richter 323 

Romanes. Animal Intelligence 181 

Romanes. Darwin and after Darwin (Vol. I, p. 261) 98 

Romanes. Darwin and after Darwin 9 

Ross. Social Psychology (p. 118) 28 

Ross. Social Psychology (p. 70) 260 

Rousseau 34,222 

Ruskin . ... 49 199 

Saleeby.' Parenthood and Race Culture (p. 1*22)" .* ! *. '. '. '. *. *. '. *. .'203 

Saleeby. Parenthood and Race Culture (p. 145) 211 

Schiller. The Robbers 309 

Schopenhauer. World as Will and Idea (Vol. Ill, p. 310) 13 

Schopenhauer. World as Will and Idea (Vol. Ill, p. 313) 16 

Scribner's Sons (Publishers). Figs. 9 and 10 120,121 

Sidis. Psychology of Suggestion (p. 329) 260 

Spencer. First Principles 160 

Spencer. Principles of Psychology (Vol. II, p. 578) 67 

Spencer. Principles of Psychology (Vol. II, p. 487) 51 

Spencer. Principles of Psychology (Vol. II, p. 590) 57 

Stern. Beitrage zur Psvchologie der Aussage 197 

Tarde. The Laws of Imitation 27, 28 

Thorndike. Educational Psychology (p. 45) 213 

Tolstoi. War and Peace 266 

Upstpruyst, A. (Publisher). Fig. 11 122 

Vaschilde, N. Le Sommeil et les reves 176 

Wallace, Alfred 94 

Ward. Pure Sociology (p. 107) 51 

Washburn. The Animal Mind (p. 272) 181 

Wellington 34 

Wesley, John. Compendium of Natural Philosophy (Vol. IV, pp. 90-109) .^ 96 

Witmer. Analytical Psychology 78, 83 

Wundt 216,244 



INDEX 



Abnormalities, 132, 133 

Absolute truth, impossibility of, 
92 

Acquired characteristics, 202 

Acquired secondary reflexes, 182 

Acquired variations, 103, 104 

Action, 268-274 ; as goal in edu- 
cation, 70 ; kinds and sources 
of, 52, 268 (automatic, 269 
habitual, 272 ; ideo-motor, 274 
impulsive, 271; instinctive, 270 
reflex, 269 ; voluntary, 272) 

Admiration, as element in litera- 
ture, 64 

Adolescence, emotional instincts 
of, 21 ; fatigue in, 131 

Esthetic emotion, 52, 53, 74-76 ; 
elements in aesthetic enjoy- 
ment, 74, 75 ; necessity for early 
education in, 75, 76 

Afferent nerves, 124 

Agraphia, 186 

Alexia, 186 

Altruism, 52, 71-74 

Anabolic process, 59 

Animal activities, 8-31 ; instinc- 
tive actions, 8 ; interpretations 
of, 181 ; reflex actions, 8, 31 

Anticipatory feeling, 273 

Aphasia, 186 

Apperception, 2, 78-93, 177 ; and 
emotional life, 51, 90 ; as factor 
in concepts, 151 ; as fountain 
of conduct, 2, 78, 79 ; definition 
of, 88 ; essential elements of, 
78, 82, 88; examples of, 79; 
factors determining strength 
and direction of, 88 ; in think- 
ing, 165 ; physical conditions 
of, 91 ; power of habit in, 90 ; 



suggested apperception, 82-88 ; 
value of, 92 

Apperceptive process, 81 

Appreciation, 74 

Appreciative imagination, 192 

Art, psychology in, 303 

Asceticism, 57 

Association of ideas, 56, 62, 163- 
179; as factor in development 
of sentiments, 67 ; fundamental 
law of, 167 ; in aesthetic enjoy- 
ment, 74; in dreams, 176; in 
relation to memory, 195 ; sec- 
ondary laws of (emotional in- 
terest, 173 ; logical relation, 
174 ; repetition, 169 ; volun- 
tary attention, 174) 

Association method, practical re- 
sults of, 178-179 ; as applied to 
crime, 179 ; in detecting feigned 
insanity, 179 ; tests in, 178 

Atavism,'^207 

Attention, as element in appreci- 
ation, 74; voluntary, 174 

Autosuggestion, 184 

Awe, 65 

Brain, 115, 186 ; convolutions in, 
129; mass, 128, 129; motor 
centers in, 125 ; proportion of 
gray and white matter in, 129 

Breaking habits, conditions for, 
41 

Causation, 95 ; universality of, as 
corner stone of evolution, 104 

Cell, 5, 114-121 ; activities of, 5; 
as unit of life, 5, 117 ; complex- 
ity of, 5, 118 ; growth of, 5, 
121 ; shape and size of, 120 



34/ 



346 



ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 



Cell fibers, 117 

Central nervous system, 115 

Cerebellum, functions of, 115, 
126 

Cerebrum, functions of, 126 ; im- 
portance of, 115-117 

Character, 26 ; definition of, 26 ; 
influences upon, 179 

Choleric, 61 

Collective mind, 259 

Collective survival, 100 

Color-blindness, 149 

Complementary colors, 149 

Complexity of organic world, 
35 

Concepts, formation of, 223 

Conduct, causes of, 50-65 

Conscience, 268 

Conscious imitation, 24, 26 

Conscious memory, 181 

Consciousness, 54, 59, 63 ; change 
in, 134 ; effective states of, 54, 
62 ; importance of, 33 ; relation 
of, to action, 33 

Constructive imagination, 192 

Contact, determination in, 139 ; 
need of, 72 

Content, importance of, 107, 318 

Contiguity, lav7 of, 167 

Contrast, force of, 56 

Conventionality, 28 

Cortical area, 129 

Cranial nerves, 115 

Creative variation, 203 

Cretin, 113 

Crime, 34 

Criminal imagination, 194 

Crowds, credulity of, 260 

Culture, intellectual, 76 

Custom, 28 

Daydreams, 194 

Definition process, inadequacy 

of, 7 
Delusions, 255 
Despondency, 58 
Discontinuous variation, 104 
Disguised imitation, 27 
Dreams, 176-178 ; association in, 

176 ; contents of, 177 ; relation 



of, to waking life, 177 ; sym- 
bolic nature of, 176; theories 
of, 176 ; wider scope of, 177 
Duty, feeling of, 50 

Ear-mindedness, 185 

Education, 69-77, 185, 212 ; aes- 
thetic, 74 ; and feeling and 
emotion, 50, 69-77 ; and mem- 
ory, 185 ; blunders in, 106 ; 
fundamental aim of, 70, 277 ; 
imitation as force in, 25 ; in 
music, 73 ; in relation to habit, 
38, 69 ; in relation to heredity 
and environment, 212 ; of al- 
truistic emotions, chief factors 
in, 71 ; of egoistic emotions, 70 ; 
of intellectual emotions, 76 ; 
supreme demand in, 222 ; will, 
freedom, and, 267-286 

Efferent nerves, 124 

Egoism, 52 

Emotional interest, law of, 173 

Emotional life, exaggerations of, 
34; importance of, 66^ 179 

Emotions, definition of, 48 ; ab- 
normal emotional conditions, 
55, 255 ; classification of, 51, 
70 ; difference in intensity in, 
60 ; education of, 69 ; education 
of sesthetic, 74 ; education of 
altruistic, 71 ; education of ego- 
istic, 70 ; education of intellec- 
tual, 76 ; feeling side of, 62 ; 
habits in, 69 ; primary, 52 

Energy and feeling states, 59 

Environment, importance of, 69, 
71,75; place of, in education, 
212; problems of, 199-213; re- 
lation of, to heredity, 211 

Equilibrium, 110 

Eternal energy, 2 

Ethical basis of life, 71 

Evolution and psychology, 93- 
113 ; as conceived in modern 
thought, 96 ; general statement, 
94 ; in education, 95 ; limita- 
tions of, 110 ; natural selec- 
tion, 98 ; sexual selection, 102 ; 
sources of advantages and 



INDEX 



347 



variations necessary for survival 
(acquired variations, 103; rhyth- 
mic tendency to vary, 105 ; 
spontaneous variation, 104) ; 
survival of fittest (of present 
and of past time, 99) ; time and 
change, 110 

Evolution of language, 106 ; form 
and content, relative impor- 
tance of, 107 

Evolution of mind. 111 ; arrested, 
113 

Experience, necessity for, 72, 84 

Faculty psychology, teachings of, 
3,49 

Fatigue and habit, 45 ; impor- 
tance of, 56, 59, 91, 130 

Fear instinct, 18 ; extent of, 18 ; 
in relation to other instincts, 
18 ; value of, for protection, 19 

Feeling, and literature, 64 ; and 
intellect, 49 

Feeling-life, 61, 73 

Feelings, 2, 46-77; and education, 
50, 69 ; as fountain of conduct, 
2, 46 ; chief characteristics of 
(pleasure and pain, 53) ; classi- 
fication of, 51 ; counteracting, 
61 ; definition of, 47 ; develop- 
ment of, into sentiments, 62 ; 
difference in intensity of, 60 ; 
importance of, 48 ; physiologi- 
cal basis of, 67 ; qualities of, 
57 

Finality as detriment, 77 

Forces of mind, relations of, 30 

Form, 107 

Fountains of conduct, 1-93, 113 ; 
as interpreters of human life, 
1 ; chief object of, 78 ; neces- 
sity for wide knowledge of, 4 

Free association, 176 

Freedom, feeling of, 279 ; ways 
of conceiving, 282 

Fundamental instinct, 4 

Ganglion cell, 118 

Genius, 225 

Germ cells, activities of, 5 



Gesture-sign language, basis of, 

107, 109 
Grammar, laws of, 305 
Granules, 117 
Grief, luxury of, 58 
Growth and change, 42 

Habit, 2, 30-45, 56, 71 ; and ap- 
perception, 90 : and sensation, 
161 ; as factor in development 
of sentiments, 67 ; as fountain 
of human conduct, 2, 31, 36, 45, 
61; breaking, 41-45 ; definition 
of, 34 ; effects of, 44 ; in nerv- 
ous system, 37, 133, 167 ; in- 
herited habits, 34 ; power of, 
in education, 38-41, 69 ; reflex 
action as basis of, 31 ; some 
theories of, 34 ; strength of, 38, 
44 ; wide view of, 35, 40 

Habits, antagonism among, 39 

Hearing, sensations of, 136, 146 ; 
characteristics of sound, 147 

Heredity, and reasoning, 218 ; 
force of, 182 ; individual varia- 
tions in, 209 ; manner of inher- 
itance, 208 ; meaning of, 201 ; 
place of education with regard 
to, 212 ; problems of, 60, 182, 
199-213; relation of, to environ- 
ment, 211; source of (charac- 
teristics of humanity, 205 ; 
individual characteristics due 
to variations, 207 ; inherit- 
ance from parents, 206 ; latent 
potentialities, 207 ; race inherit- 
ance, 205) 

Higher powers of man, 2 

Human conflict, 325-341 ; incon- 
sistency and contradiction of, 
330 ; needed reforms in our 
moral education, 333 ; pursuit 
of happiness is end of action, 
327 ; spirit of aimless restless- 
ness, 329 ; the unified soul is 
the happy one, 328 

Human instincts, 14-20 

Hypnoidization, 235 

Hypnosis, popular errors concern- 
ing, 240 ; production of, 238 



348 



ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 



Hypnotic phenomena, history of, 

236 
Hypnotic suggestion, 236 

Idealistic imagination, 192 

Ideals, 68 

Ideo-motor action, 274 

Imagination, 180-198 ; and mem- 
ory, 188 ; as source of crime 
and hallucination, 34 ; dangers 
of extremes in, 34 ; education 
of, 194 ; function and develop- 
ment of, 180 ; idealizing power 
of, 74 ; in animals, 180 ; in re- 
lation to anticipatory images, 
183 ; suggestions concerning, 
196 ; values and dangers in, 
192 

Imitation, 2, 23-30 ; and habit, 
26, 30 ; and initiative, relation 
of, 26 ; and intelligence, 26 ; as 
an aid to other instincts, 23 ; 
as factor in animal training, 
25 ; as factor in training feeble- 
minded, 25 ; as fountain of con- 
duct, 2, 23 ; conscious, 24, 26 ; 
definition of, 28 ; extent and 
scope of, 26 ; importance of, as 
an instinct, 23-30 ; trend of, 27; 
unconscious power of, 24 

Impressions, meaning aspect of, 
79 

Individual survival, 100 

Inhibition, 126 

Inner life, 76 

Instinct, 2, 4, 7-23, 29, 51, 52; 
abnormal forms of, 22 ; and 
apperception, 88 ; and intelli- 
gence, 13 ; as a fountain of 
conduct, 2, 7 ; complexity of, 
112; definition of, 20-24; human 
(as basis of human activities, 14; 
as part of fountains of conduct, 
20; fear instinct, 18, 132; 
parental instinct, 17; play in- 
stinct, 20 ; power of, 14 ; prop- 
erty instinct, 19; sexual instinct, 
15-17 ; social instinct, 20) ; imi- 
tative instinct, 23 ; method of 
inheritance of, 29 ; migratory, 



8 ; power of, 95 ; practical ap- 
plications of, 7 ; reproductive, 
12 ; social, 10 ; will to live as 
fundamental instinct, 4 
Instinctive activity, 10 
Instinctive Impulses, 20 
Intellect, process of, 8, 69 
Intellectual emotion, 52 
Intelligence, basis of, 128 
Intelligence in animals, 180 
Intensity, 147 ; of feeling, 54, 60 
Inetrest, 78, 82, 89, 130, 173 ; and 
association of ideas, 173 ; as 
chief element in apperception, 
78, 89 (unconscious influence 
of, 82, 89) ; intensity of, 130 

Katabolic process, 59 
Kinesthetic, 143 

Language, evolution of, 106-110 

Language and thought discipline, 
227 

Life, 1-5, 60 ; conditions of, 4 ; 
equipment of , 5 ; ethical basis of, 
71 ; origin of , 1 ; past, influence 
of, 2 ; problems of, 1 ; specula- 
tions concerning, 3 ; unit of, 5 

Literature, aim of, 64 ; as a means 
of educating altruistic life, 72 ; 
atmosphere of, 319 ; character- 
istics of, 66 ; first necessity for 
production or appreciation of, 
311; psychology in, 303-324; 
reading into, wdiat is not there, 
317 ; simple psychic elements 
in, 307 ; standard for judging, 
320 ; symbolic nature of, 313 

Localization of function, 127 

Logical relation, 174 

Love instinct, 51, 53, 71 

Lumbricus, 5 

Magic and spiritualism, 287-302 ; 
explanations of, 293 ; high 
points in history of, 291 ; his- 
toric development of, 287 ; 
necessity for knowledge con- 
cerning, 288 ; spiritualistic phe- 
nomena, 297 



INDEX 



349 



Medulla oblongata, functions of, 
115, 126 

Melancholy, 58, 61 

Memory, 180-198 ; and conduct, 
183 ; and court testimony, 197 ; 
and imagination, 188 ; edu- 
cation of, 185, 194 ; function 
and development of, 180 ; in 
animals (conscious memory, 
181 ; memory images, 180, 183 ; 
theories of, 180) ; physical basis 
of, 186; susrgestions concerning, 
196; varieties of, 182-185 
(images of the different senses, 
62, 184 ; organic, 182 ; recog- 
nition and f eelingof familiarity, 
183 ; semiconscious memory, 
182) 

Memory process, complete, 185 

Mental assimilation, 90 

Mental healing, 249 

Mental images, 62 

Mental life outside consciousness, 
243 

Mental prepossession, 161 

Migratory instinct, 8 

Mind, evolution of. 111 

Moral education, reforms of, 333 

Moral emotion, 52 

Morals, dependence on feeling- 
life, 73 

Motor nerves, 124 

Muscular discrimination, 136 

Muscular sense, importance of, 
142 

Music and art, misapplication of, 
73 ; power of, 72, 109 ; psy- 
chology in, 147, 322 

Music-imagination, 192 

Nais, 5 

Nascent stages, 76 

Natural selection, 98 

Nerve cell, 118 

Nervous system, abnormalities in, 
132 ; association in, 167 ; cere- 
brum, importance of, 116 ; 
composition of (cell as unit of 
nervous system), 117 ; coopera- 
tion in actions of, 91 ; divisions 



of (central and peripheral), 115; 
education of, 128 ; fatigue as a 
danger signal, 130 ; function 
and education of, 114-133; 
functions of the different parts, 
124 ; growth of, 121 ; habit in, 
133 ; importance of knowledge 
on this subject, 131 ; modifica- 
tions of, 61, 63, 111 ; organiza- 
tion of, 60 ; relation of physical 
and mental defects of, 127 

Nervous tissue, sensitiveness of, 
37, 63 

Neurone, 118, 168 

Neutral states, 54, 48 

Night-blindness, 151 

Noise, 147 

Noninstinctive adjustments, 182 

Number forms, 157, 190 

Oneness, sensation of, 152 
Organic memory, definition of, 

182 
Organic sensations, 137 

Pain, physical basis of, 48, 53-62, 
142 

Paramnesia, 254 

Parental instinct, 17 ; as exten- 
sion of sexual instinct, 17 ; in 
relation to will power, 17 

Partial memory, 184 

Passive imitativeness, 27 

Pathological imagination, 194 

Perception and sensation, 135, 
155-159 

Peripheral, 115 

Personal interest, 50 

Personality, 166 

Phlegmatic, 61 

Physical conditions, influence of, 
91 

Pitch, 147 

Plasticity due to intelligence, 18 

Plasticity of organic world, 35 

Pleasurable pain, 57 

Pleasure, physical basis of, 48, 
53-62 

Political education and school, 
262 



350 



ELEMENTAEY PSYCHOLOGY 



Posthypnotic suggestion, 245 

Potentiality, 187 

Predisposition of response, 35, 
37 

Preformed mechanism, 131 

Prepossession, 87 

Pressure, sensitiveness to, 140 

Primary passions, 51 

Property instinct, 19 

Psychic activities in man, 7 

Psychoanalysis, 177 

Psychological paradox, 57 

Psychology, in literature, music, 
and art (first necessity for pro- 
duction or appreciation of liter- 
ature and art, 311 ; inadequacy 
of present system, 304 ; laws of 
grammar, literature, and art, 
305 ; music and art, 322 ; psy- 
chic atmosphere about litera- 
ture and art, 319 ; reading into 
literature what is not there, 
317 ; simple psychic elements 
in literature, 307 ; standard for 
judging literature and art, 320 ; 
symbolic nature of characters 
in literature, 313) ; normal and 
abnormal, 253 ; relation of, to 
evolution, 94-113 

Punishment, old ideas of, 333 

Quality, 147 ; of sensations, 155- 
159 

Rational element in man, 49 
Reaction time, family similarity 
in, 179 ; variations in, 151, 153, 
178 
Reason, 8, 62 ; inaccuracy in, 218 
Reflex action, 31, 125, 134, 182 
acquired secondary reflexes, 
182 ; as seen in animals, 32 
conscious, 32 ; definition of, 32 
in relation to consciousness, 33 
in relation to habit, 34 ; uncon- 
scious, 32 
Religious emotion, 52 
Reminiscent imagery, 193 
Repetition, importance of, 37 ; 
law of, 169 



Reproduction, characteristics of, 
12 ; instinct of, 12, 15 : perver- 
sions of, 12 

Reverence, 65 

Rhythm, 323 

Rhythmic tendency to vary, 105 

Sanguine, 61 

Science, problems of, 131 

Self-confidence, 44 

Self-deception, 42 

Selfishness, 52 

Self -originating imitation, 27 

Self-preservation, 6, 70 

Self-sacrifice, 71 

Semiconscious memory, 182 

Sensation, 54, 134-162 ; in rela- 
tion to perception, 135 ; quality 
and intensity of, 155 ; sensa- 
tions arising from the skin (dis- 
crimination of contacts, 139 
hairs as organs of touch, 139 
sensitiveness to pressure, 140) 
significance of, 159 ; stimulus 
and nerve action, 134 

Senses, 141-155 ; adaptation to 
stimuli, 136 ; as basis of in- 
stincts, 134 

Sensibility to response, 61 

Sensory nerves, 124 

Sentiments, 52-68 ; as factors in 
apperception, 90 ; as preven- 
tives of progress, 68 ; habit as 
fundamental in education of, 
69 ; idealistic quality of, 68 ; 
nature of, 52, 66 ; power of, 
55 

Sexual instinct in human life, 15; 
importance of, 16 

Sexual selection, 12, 102 

Sight, sensations of, 136, 148 

Sitaris, 10 

Skin sensations, 139 

Smell, extent of sensations of, 
136, 144, 145 

Social instinct, 10, 11 ; as seen 
among animals, 10 

Social-mind, 258 

Social psychology, 257-266 ; con- 
clusions, 264 ; importance of, 



INDEX 



361 



257 ; school and political educa- 
tion, 262 ; social mind, meaning 
of, 258 ; suggestibility and cre- 
dulity of crowds, 260 

Soul, and feeling-life, 62, 73 ; def- 
inition of, 3 ; freedom of, 311 ; 
serenity of, 44, 77 ; the uncon- 
scious in, 177, 179 

Sound, 147 

Special memories, 187 

Spectrum, 148 

Sphex, 10 

Spinal cord, 115, 125 

Spirit of age, 28 

Spiritualism, 296-302 ; historic 
development of, 287 ; necessity 
for knowledge concerning, 288 ; 
relation of, to magic, 289; some 
spiritualistic phenomena, 297 

Spontaneous variation, 104, 207 

Stimulus, effect of, 61, 63, 134, 
177 ; intensity of, 141 

Stovaine, effect of, 55 

Stream of consciousness, 175 

Stream of thought, 165, 175 

Struggle for existence, 3, 98, 99 ; 
as a fundamental in evolution, 
4, 98 

Subjective sensations, 155 

Suggestion, 60, 87, 144, 161 ; force 
of, 161 

Suggestion and mental healing, 
232-256 ; degrees of suggesti- 
bility, 233 ; hidden powers of 
men, 247 ; history of hypnotic 
phenomena, 236 ; how hypnosis 
is produced, 238 ; mental heal- 
ing, 249 ; mental life outside 
consciousness, 243 ; mob spirit, 
235 ; normal and abnormal psy- 
chology, 253 ; phenomena of 
hypnotic suggestion, 236 ; pop- 
ular errors concerning, 240 

Superorganic evolution, 259 

Survival of fittest, 98 ; individual 
and collective survival, 100 

Sweet sadness, 57 

Sympathetic imagination, 193 

Sympathy, 71 

Synapses, action of, 168 



Taste, 136, 144 

Taste and smell, 144 

Temperament, 61 

Temperature sense, 136 

Thinking process, degrees of 
thinking, 214 (intuitive reason- 
ing, 215 ; short-circuited logic, 
215); development of, 214-231 ; 
education of, 222 ; formation of 
concepts, 223 ; genius, the star 
of hope, 225 ; inaccurate rea- 
soning, causes of, 218 (absence 
of adequate material, 219 ; de- 
fective education and training, 
220 ; habit and apperception, 
219; heredity, 218 ; strong emo- 
tion, 220) ; language and thought 
discipline, 227 

Thought, and progress, 217 ; ra- 
pidity of, 165 

Touch, education of, 136, 143 

Transferred feelings, 67 

Transferred perception, 156 

Truth, relativity of, 68, 92 

Unconscious imitation, 24 
Unconscious infection, 179 
Unconsciousness, 79 
Undertone emotion, 173 
Unity in variety, 74 

Variation, by mutation, 104 ; 

causes of, 104 
Vision, world of, 151 
Visual images, 189 
Visual-mindedness, 184 
Voluntary attention, 174 

Weber\s law, 140-142, 155 

Will, 242 

Will, freedom, and education, 267- 
286 ; biological and evolution- 
ary investigations of, 268 ; defi- 
nition of will, 267 ; deliberation, 
definition of, 275 ; education 
and freedom (limitations of 
freedom, 276 ; practical aim of 
education, 277) ; evasions of the 
problem, 278 ; feeling of free- 
dom, 279 ; kinds and sources of 



352 



ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY 



human action, 268 ; moral as- 
pect, 284 ; volition as director 
of thoughts and feelings, 273 ; 
ways of conceiving freedom, 
287 
Will or desire to live, 2-6, 29 ; as 
a fountain of conduct, 2, 4 ; as 
background of life, 4 ; as found 



in animal life, 3-6 ; as funda- 
mental instinct, 4 ; as related 
to other instincts, 4 ; extent 
and intensity of, 5 ; for the in- 
dividual, 6 ; for the species, 6 ; 
strength of, 5 ; struggle for 
life, 3 



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